MEMORANDA  OF   A   RESIDENCE 


AT  THE 


COURT  OF  LONDON. 


BY 

RICHARD  RUSH,  ENVOY    EXTRAORDINARY  AND  MINISTER 

PLENIPOTENTIARY  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES 

OF  AMERICA,  FROM  1817  TO  1825. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
CAREY,  LEA  &  BLANCHARD. 

1833. 


Entered,  June  1833,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  by  RICHARD  RUSH, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office,  of  the  District  Court,  of  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


MORSE:  ST 


Thomas  Kite  &  Co.,  Printers. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
To  the  Reader,       -      ;  •  •  •  •  •     ix 

CHAPTER  I. 

Voyage  and  arrival  at  the  Isle  of  Wight,  .     21 

CHAPTER  II. 

Landing  at  Portsmouth  and  journey  to  London,  .  .     31 

CHAPTER  III. 

First  interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh.  First  appear 
ances  of  London,  .  .  .  .  .45  IT 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — slaves  carried  away 
from  the  United  States  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent 
— equalization  of  tonnage  duties — West  India  trade. 
Members  of  the  British  and  American  cabinets,  .  51 

CHAPTER  V. 

London  east  of  Temple  bar.  London  north  of  Oxford 
street,  ......  70 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Dinner  at  Lord  Castlereagh's.  Members  of  the  diplo 
matic  corps.  The  first  visit.  Dinner  at  Lord  West 
moreland's,  .  ...  78 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Slave  question  under 
the  treaty  of  Ghent — North-western  boundary  between 
the  United  States  and  British  possessions — Post  at  the 
mouth  of  Columbia  river,  .  .  •  .92 


-,09688 


*vi 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  VIII. 


Reception  by  the  Prince  Regent.  The  Levee.  Royal 
Family,  '  .  .  '  .  .  .101 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Attempt  upon  the  life  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Old 
customs  about  the  court.  Dinner  at  the  Danish  minis 
ter's.  Private  audience  of  the  Queen.  The  Drawing 
Room.  Dinner  at  Lord  Castlereagh's,  .  .115 

CHAPTER  X. 

Emigration.  Literary  institutions.  Clubs.  Booksellers' 
shops.  St  James's  palace — party  at  the  Dutchess  of 
Cumberland's — at  the  Russian  ambassador's — at  the 
Marchioness  of  Stafford's— at  Lord  Melville's.  The 
Duke  of  Sussex.  Dinner  at  the  Mansion  House,  .  130 

CHAPTER  XL 

Visit  to  Mr.  West.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Lyttleton's — at  Lord 
Holland's.  A  day  at  Deptford  and  Greenwich.  Din 
ner  at  the  Austrian  ambassador's — at  Earl  Bathurst's. 
Marriage  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  Dinner  at  Lord 
Bagot's,  .  .  .  .  .  .150 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh.  General  negotiation 
proposed  on  the  West  India  trade,  Maritime  questions 
and  Impressment.  Nature  of  the  last  question.  The 
Slave  trade.  Offer  of  British  mediation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  United  States  and  Spain.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Wil- 
berforce's — at  the  Earl  of  Hardwicke's.  Almacs — late 
hours — Covent  Garden  Theatre,  .  .  .  178 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Wager  of  battle.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh 
— Impressment — course  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  as  between  Spain  and  her  colonies — affairs  be- 


CONTENTS. 

tween  the  United  States  and  Spain.  Safety  of  diploma 
tic  correspondence.  The  Drawing  Room.  Birth  day 
dinner  at  Lord  Casllereagh's,  ....  202 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  daily  press.  Annual  exhibition  at  the  Royal  Acade 
my.  Public  societies.  Dinner  at  the  Marquis  ofLans- 
downe's.  Evening  entertainment  at  Carlton  House. 
Dinner  at  Dr.  Pinckard's,  ....  220 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  United  States  and  Ionian  Islands.  Affairs  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain.  Monument  to  Burns. 
British  Institution,  Pall  Mall.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Canning's. 
Lord  Erskine,  .....  244 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Dissolution  of  Parliament.  Revenue  and  resources  of 
England.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Impress 
ment — the  Slave  trade — commercial  convention  of  1815. 
Dinner  at  the  Marquis  of  Stafford's.  Further  interview 
with  Lord  Castlereagh  on  Impressment  and  the  Slave 
trade.  The  hustings  at  Covent  Garden.  Dinner  at  the 
Chancellor  of  the  exchequer's,  .  •  .  265 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — general  negotiation 
proposed — commercial  convention  of  1815. — European 
mediation  between  Spain  and  her  colonies.  Dinner  at 
Mr.  Villiers's.  The  Quarterly  Review.  Interview 
with  Lord  Castlereagh — proposal  for  a  general  negotia 
tion  accepted — Mr.  Gallatin  to  take  part  in  it — Mr. 
Robinson  and  Mr.  Goulburn,  the  British  negotiators. 
Commercial  convention  of  1815.  Dinner  at  Sir  John 
Sinclair's — at  Mr.  Bentham's — at  the  French  ambassa 
dor's.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — course  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  towards  Spain  and 
her  colonies.  Affair  of  Pensacola,  .  .  .297 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh.  Impressment — cases 
of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  Mr.  Gallatin  arrives  in 
London.  Preparatory  conference  at  North  Cray,  Kent, 
the  seat  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  where  the  negotiators 
dine  and  pass  the  night.  Appearances  of  the  country. 
Opening  of  the  negotiation — the  points  recapitulated. 
Last  interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh  on  Impressment, 
prior  to  his  departure  for  Aix  la  Chapelle,  .  .  329 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Progress  of  the  negotiation.  A  convention  concluded. 
Questions  arranged  by  it  ;  viz.  that  of  the  fisheries — 
north-western  boundary  line — Columbia  River  and  ter 
ritory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — commercial  con 
vention  of  1815 — Slaves  carried  off  contrary  to  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  .....  353 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Subjects  which  the  negotiation  left  unsettled,  particularly 
the  West  India  trade  and  Impressment,  _(.  .  381 

CHAiTER  XXI. 

The  English  in  the  autumn.  Inaguration  of  the  Lord 
Mayor.  Death  of  the  Queen,  .  .  .  415 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Americans  abroad.  Cases  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister. 
Opening  of  Parliament.  Royal  speech,  by  commission. 
Dinner  at  Mr.  Wellesley  Pole's.  Chesapeake  and  Shan 
non,  .  .  .  435 


TO  THE  READER. 


WHEN  I  first  took  the  pen  to  prepare  the 
following  sheets  for  the  press,  it  was  with  the 
intention  of  going  through  the  full  term  of  my 
mission ;  but  finding  them  run  on  to  their  present 
number  in  using  the  materials  of  little  more  than 
a  year,  I  have,  for  the  present,  given  over  that 
intention.  I  am  the  more  admonished  to  this 
course,  as  negotiations  with  which  I  was  charged 
at  later  periods,  were  more  elaborate  and  full  than 
any  recorded  in  this  volume.  Miss  More,  in 
noticing  Pope's  precept,  that  the  greatest  art  in 
writing  is  "  to  blot"  says  that  there  is  still  a  greater 
— the  art  to  stop. 

The  contents  of  the  chapters  may  startle  at 
first ;  but  I  trust  only  at  first.  I  am  as  deeply 
sensible  of  the  impropriety  of  making  an  ill  use  of 
the  incidents  of  private  life,  as  it  is  possible  any 
one  can  be,  and  flatter  myself  that  what  I  have 


x  TO  THE  READER. 

said  in  this  connexion,  will  be  clear  of  all  excep 
tion.  I  would  otherwise  burn  the  sheets.  I  would 
burn  them  if  I  thought  they  contained  a  line  or 
word  to  create  a  moment's  uneasiness  in  any  one 
person  whose  name  is  mentioned.  In  giving  an 
account  of  conversations  other  than  official,  I  have 
drawn  upon  my  notes  sparingly ;  not  that  I  heard 
things  improper  had  all  been  told,  but  that  a  thou 
sand  things  pass  in  conversation  not  adapted  to 
print,  any  more  than  intended  for  it.  Reports 
then  or  narratives  given  under  restraints  from 
which  I  never  could  be  free,  may  be  found  mea 
gre  ;  and  in  such  cases  I  am  the  one  to  blame,  de 
siring  always  to  err  on  the  side  of  abstinence 
where  indulgence  would  be  criminal.  Doubtless 
also  there  has  often  been  a  falling  off  in  my  limit 
ed  reports  of  what  was  said  by  others,  from  the 
better  manner  in  which  it  was  said  by  the  persons 
themselves.  Here  too  I  am  the  one  responsible. 
In  many  instances  I  have  been  happy  to  render 
acknowledgments  for  the  kindest  hospitalities  re 
ceived  in  England.  Should  the  work  be  continued, 
this  list  would  be  much  enlarged  by  names  not 
hitherto  reached. 

There  are  questions  involved  in  the  negotiations 
I  have  recorded,  of  the  deepest  prospective  inter 
est  to  both  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 


TO  THE  READER.  xj 

If  I  have  explained  these  so  that  they  may  be 
rightly  understood,  and  send  them  into  the  world 
under  a  companionship  that  may  add  to  the 
chances  of  their  being  at  all  read  in  both  coun 
tries,  I  believe  that  I  shall  not  have  written  alto 
gether  in  vain.  When  I  say  in  both,  I  confess  that 
I  chiefly  mean  Britain ;  for  with  all  the  power  of 
intelligence  and  information  in  that  country  upon 
public  as  all  subjects,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  Ame 
rican  questions  are  less  generally  inquired  into 
than  many  others,  and  less  generally  understood 
than  in  this  country.  I  have  written  in  the  spirit 
of  good  feeling  towards  Britain  which  may  be  che 
rished  by  every  American  compatibly  with  his 
superior  love  for  his  own  country,  and  which  I 
believe  few  Americans  fail  to  cherish  who  stay 
there  as  long  as  I  did.  A  residence  of  nearly 
eight  years,  corrected  many  erroneous  impressions 
I  had  previously  taken  up ;  as  a  residence  of  like 
time  in  this  country  by  Britons,  almost  invariably 
imbues  them  with  totally  different  feelings  and 
opinions  respecting  the  United  States,  from  those 
adopted  by  their  hasty,  and  too  often  uninformed 
and  uncandid  travellers,  who  come  among  us. 
Enough  has  been  written  and  said  on  both  sides, 
to  irritate.  My  desire  is,  and  such  my  effort,  to 
soothe.  President  Jackson,  in  his  last  annual 


xii  TO  THE  READER. 

message  to  Congress,  has  spoken  of  the  value  of 
a  good  understanding  between  two  countries, 
"  cemented  by  a  community  of  language,  manners 
and  social  habits,  and  by  the  high  obligations  we  owe 
to  our  British  ancestors  for  many  of  our  most  valu 
able  institutions,  and  for  that  system  of  representative 
government  which  has  enabled  us  to  preserve  and 
improve  them" 

In  publishing  negotiations  which  I  conducted 
for  my  country,  and  other  official  communications, 
it  is  proper  I  should  say,  that  I  violate  no  duty. 
It  is  known  to  be  as  well  the  practice  as  the  prin 
ciple  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to 
publish  such  documents  for  general  information ; 
and  in  fact  I  publish  nothing  that  has  not  hereto 
fore  had  publicity  in  this  manner,  though  piece 
meal  and  at  detached  intervals.  I  know  of  no 
exception,  certainly  of  no  material  exception,  unless 
the  cases  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  These 
constitute  a  transaction  too  marked  to  remain  un 
known  in  its  diplomatic  progress,the  result  having 
long  been  known.  My  more  ample  account  of  it 
all,  at  the  time  it  arose,  was  transmitted  to  the 
department  of  state,  and  rests  in  its  archives. 

Even  the  European  rule  sanctions  the  publica 
tion  of  negotiations  when  no  longer  pending,  and 
this  is  the  case  with  all  I  present.  I  have  only 


TO  THE  READER. 

given  them  in  connecting  links,  and  under  forms 
somewhat  different.  Often  I  have  omitted  par 
ticulars  already  published  by  the  government; 
whilst  sometimes  I  have  brought  to  light  what 
may  serve  as  new  explanations.  In  this,  as  other 
parts  of  the  work,  I  venture  to  claim  for  it  as  the 
only  title  to  an  indulgent  reception,  essential  fide 
lity  in  its  contents ;  repeating,  that  I  am  charge 
able  with  all  imperfections  merely  verbal. 

I  might  have  thrown  into  separate  works,  the 
parts  official  and  parts  personal.  But  I  preferred 
their  junction.  No  public  man,  whatever  the  ex 
tent  or  magnitude  of  his  duties,  leads  a  purely 
official  life,  detached  from  personal  scenes  and 
feelings  interwoven  with  it.  Some  view  of  these 
may  even  serve  on  occasion  to  elucidate  better  the 
true  movement  of  official  acts,  by  exhibiting  the 
latter  in  a  broader  connexion.  I  have  also  thought 
that  it  might  not  be  wholly  unacceptable  to  the 
American  community,  to  know  something  of  the 
personal  reception  of  their  minister  in  England,  in 
virtue  of  the  trust  he  bears ;  not  simply  that  which 
awaits  him  in  the  common  forms  when  he  first 
arrives,  but  more  generally  afterwards.  The  same 
motive  will  open  to  his  countrymen  some  views, 
imperfect  indeed  and  few,  but  still  some  views,  of 
the  social  tone  prevailing  in  classes  amongst  which 


xjv  TO  THE  READER. 

his  public  trust  necessarily,  and,  if  his  residence 
be  protracted,  largely  throws  him. 

Brief  reflections  which  I  may  now  and  then  have 
hazarded  on  the  institutions  and  character  of  Eng 
land,  are  of  little  moment.  They  will  pass  only 
for  what  they  are  worth  with  those  who  may  be  at 
the  trouble  of  reading  them.  Far  from  my  pur 
pose  has  it  been  to  scan  all  her  institutions  and 
character,  (a  mighty  task!)  but  rather  to  speak 
cursorily  of  portions  falling  under  my  own  imme 
diate  observation  in  some  among  the  many  spheres 
of  her  society  and  population.  Other  portions 
have  been  abundantly  described  by  her  own  and 
foreign  writers ;  and  here,  portraits  unlike  each 
other  may  each  be  true  to  the  original.  Even  an 
individual  in  whom  great  qualities  meet,  may  often 
be  described  under  different  colours,  each  being 
just  according  to  the  point  of  sight  whence  he  is 
beheld.  Who  then  shall  undertake  to  concentrate 
in  a  single  picture,  a  great  and  mighty  nation  ? 
The  opinions  in  which  I  feel  most  confidence,  and 
which  are  most  important,  are  those  which  relate 
to  the  wealth  and  power  of  England,  and  their 
steady  augmentation.  Those,  of  whatever  nature, 
in  which  I  have  indulged,  have  reference,  with 
scarcely  any  exceptions,  to  the  dates  that  belong 
to  them.  1  am  aware  that  great  political  changes 


TO  THE  READER.  xy 

have  taken  place  since ;  but  I  do  not,  at  my  dis 
tance,  believe  that  any  essential  changes  will  yet 
have  been  produced  by  them,  in  the  character  or 
habits  of  the  nation.  These,  when  the  growth  of 
ages,  alter  slowly  in  any  country.  In  England 
they  wrill  come  about  more  slowly  than  in  most 
countries. 

Of  current  politics,  I  have  said  nothing.  Who 
looks  for  party  spirit  therefore  in  these  pages,  will 
not  find  it.  They  are  merely  intended  to  be  histo 
rical  and  descriptive,  if,  in  very  humble  ways,  they 
may  at  all  lay  claim  to  such  characteristics.  It 
will  scarcely  be  supposed  that,  even  as  far  as  they 
go,  they  embody  all  the  scenes,  social  or  official, 
of  my  mission.  Of  the  first  there  are  only  occa 
sional  notices ;  and  of  the  second  only  such  have 
been  selected  as  are  decidedly  national,  and  not  all 
these.  The  whole  business  of  private  claims, 
requiring  appeals  to  the  British  government,  I  have 
of  course  passed  by,  as  well  as  a  great  variety  of 
incidental  duties.  These  are  of  constant  recur 
rence  in  countries  between  which  there  is  so  large 
and  active  a  commerce  as  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain.  The  consuls  take  charge  of  many 
of  them ;  but  the  cases  are  still  numerous  in  which 
they  find  their  way  to  the  minister.  The  latter  is 
also  charged  with  supervising,  quarterly,  the  ac- 


TO  THE  READER. 

counts  of  all  the  consuls  of  the  United  States  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  for  expenditures  for  the 
relief  of  destitute  or  distressed  American  seamen  ; 
and  it  is  on  his  drafts  alone  that  funds  are  advanced 
for  this  object.  So  it  was  in  my  time,  and  formed 
a  burdensome,  and  not  very  appropriate,  part  of 
the  minister's  duty ;  expenditures  on  this  account 
within  the  British  dominions  being  equal  to  those 
in  all  other  foreign  countries  put  together — a  fact 
that  in  itself  attests  the  extent  of  our  commerce 
and  navigation  with  Great  Britain. 

I  went  to  England  again  on  a  short  visit  in 
1829.  An  interval  of  but  four  years  had  elapsed ; 
yet  I  was  amazed  at  the  increase  of  London. 
The  Regent's  Park,  which,  when  I  first  knew  the 
west-end  of  the  town,  disclosed  nothing  but  lawns 
and  fields,  was  now  a  city.  You  saw  long  rows  of 
lofty  buildings,  in  their  outward  aspect  magnifi 
cent.  On  this  whole  space,  was  set  down  a  popu 
lation  of  probably  not  less  than  fifty  or  sixty  thou 
sand  souls.  Another  city  hardly  smaller,  seemed 
to  have  sprung  up  in  the  neighbourhood  of  St. 
Pancreas'  church  and  the  London  University. 
Belgrave  square  in  an  opposite  region,  broke  upon 
me  with  like  surprise.  The  road  from  Westmin 
ster  Bridge  to  Greenwich,  exhibited  for  several 
miles  compact  ranges  of  new  houses.  Finchley 


TO  THE  READER.  xvjj 

common,  desolate  in  1819,  was  covered  with  neat 
cottages,  and  indeed  villages.  In  whatever  direc 
tion  I  went,  indications  were  similar.  I  say  noth 
ing  of  Carlton  terrace,  for  Carlton  House  was 
gone,  or  of  the  street,  of  two  miles,  from  that  point 
to  Park  Crescent,  surpassing  any  other  in  London, 
or  any  that  I  saw  in  Europe.  To  make  room  for 
this  new  and  spacious  street,  old  ones  had  been 
pulled  down,  of  which  no  vestige  remained.  I 
could  scarcely,  but  for  the  evidence  of  the  senses, 
have  believed  it  all.  The  historian  of  the  decline 
and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  remarks,  that  the 
description  composed  in  the  Theodosian  age,  of 
the  many  stately  mansions  in  Rome,  might  almost 
excuse  the  exaggeration  of  the  poet ;  that  "  Rome 
contained  a  multitude  of  palaces,  and  that  each 
palace  was  equal  to  a  city."  Is  the  British  metro 
polis  advancing  to  that  destiny?  Manchester, 
Liverpool,  Birmingham,  and  other  provincial  towns 
that  I  visited,  appeared,  on  their  smaller  scales,  to 
have  increased  as  much. 

In  the  midst  of  it  all,  nearly  every  newspaper 
that  I  opened,  rung  the  changes  upon  the  distress 
and  poverty  of  England.  Mr.  Peel's  bill  banishing 
bank  notes  under  five  pounds  from  circulation,  had 
recently  passed.  There  was  great  clamor.  There 

is  always  clamor  at  something  among  this  people. 

3 


xviii  TO  THE  READER, 

Prices  had  fallen.  Trade  was  said  to  be  irrecov 
erably  ruined,  through  the  over-production  of  goods. 
I  have  since  seen  the  state  of  things  at  that  epoch 
better  described  perhaps,  as  the  result  of  an  under 
production  of  money.  Workmen  in  many  places 
were  out  of  employ.  There  were  said  to  be  four 
teen  thousand  of  this  description  in  Manchester. 
I  saw  portions  of  them  walking  along  the  streets. 
Most  of  them  had  struck  for  wages.  I  asked  how 
they  subsisted,  when  doing  nothing.  It  was  an 
swered,  that  they  had  laid  up  funds  by  joint  con 
tributions  among  themselves  whilst  engaged  in 
work.  In  no  part  of  Liverpool,  or  its  extensive 
environs,  did  I  see  pauperism;  the  paupers  for 
that  entire  district  being  kept  within  the  limits  of 
its  poor  house ;  in  which  receptacle  I  was  informed 
there  were  fifteen  hundred.  I  passed  through  the 
vale  of  Cheshire ;  I  saw  in  that  fertile  district,  in 
Lancashire,  Staffordshire,  Derbyshire,  Leicester 
shire,  Warwickshire,  Worcestershire,  appearances 
of  wide-spread  prosperity,  in  the  lands,  houses, 
canals,  roads,  public  works,  domestic  animals, 
people ;  in  every  thing  that  the  eye  of  the  merely 
transient  traveller  took  in.  I  stopped  at  Kenilworth, 
and  Warwick  castle  ;  enchanting  spots,  which 
English  literature  has  almost  rendered  classic ! 
Rooks  were  fluttering  about  the  mouldering  ruins 


TO  THE  READER.  xix 

of  the  former.  I  had  invitations  to  Trentham-hall, 
Apthorpe,  Hagley,  Ockham,  Lan'gewin,  Grange 
Park,  Digswell ;  from  going  to  which  I  was  prevent 
ed  by  objects  confining  me  to  the  metropolis.  But  I 
seize  this  opportunity  of  marking  my  sense  of  the 
kindnesses  intended  me  by  the  proprietors  of  those 
beautiful  seats.  Nor  can  I  let  it  pass  without 
comprehending  in  my  grateful  acknowledgments 
my  valued  American  friends,  George  Marx,  and 
Joshua  Bates,  Esquires  ;  who,  with  their  amiable 
families,  kept  London  from  being  a  dull  place  to 
me  during  the  autumn  and  part  of  the  winter,  by 
their  warm-hearted  hospitalities.  I  have  the  same 
to  say  of  a  friend  of  longer  date,  Colonel  Aspin- 
wall,  consul  of  the  United  States  at  London,  then 
residing  with  his  amiable  family  at  Highgate. 

I  cannot  close  these  preliminary  lines  without 
the  remark,  that  since  the  volume  was  written, 
events  have  transpired  in  our  own  country,  calcu 
lated  at  first  to  give  uneasiness  to  those  who  dearly 
love  it.  But  may  we  not  hope  that  all  danger  is 
past ;  and  that  the  UNION  which  made  and  can 
alone  preserve  us  a  NATION,  will  derive  from  them 
new  strength  and  glory  ? 

R.  R. 

SYDENHAM,  NEAR  PHILADELPHIA. 
APRIL,  1833. 


MEMORANDA 


OF  A 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  COURT  OF  LONDON, 


CHAPTER  I. 

Voyage  and  arrival  at  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

ON  the  nineteenth  of  November,  1817,  I  em 
barked  at  Annapolis  in  the  Franklin  74,  as  envoy 
extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  from 
the  United  States,  to  the  court  of  London.  The 
ship  was  new,  built  at  Philadelphia,  and  ordered 
round  to  Annapolis  to  take  me  and  my  family  on 
board.  The  anchors  were  weighed  to  the  sound 
of  music.  We  were  three  days  in  getting  down 
the  Chesapeake,  and  on  the  twenty-third,  found 
ourselves  at  sea.  The  evening  sun  shone  upon 
the  light-house  as  we  left  the  capes,  which  jut  out 
towards  each  other,  looking,  from  the  ocean,  like 


22  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  |~1817. 

a  fine  natural  gate-way  to  the  entrance  of  this 
part  of  our  country. 

I  will  not  stop  to  describe  the  minute  occur 
rences  of  the  voyage,  though  a  large  man-of-war 
abounds  with  them,  as  they  strike  upon  the  obser 
vation  of  a  person  who  has  never  before  been  at 
sea.  The  crew  consisted  of  upwards  of  seven 
hundred  men.  The  ship  was  of  two  thousand  tons, 
and  although  rated  a  74,  mounted  ninety  guns.  If 
silence  and  cleanliness  be  proofs  of  discipline,  the 
ship's  company  was  entitled  to  that  praise.  We 
had  one  storm,  a  severe  one ;  so  it  seemed  to  a 
landsman.  As  it  was  coming  on,  the  sails  were 
taken  in,  and  even  whilst  it  raged,  the  top-gallant 
yards  sent  down,  and  masts  struck,  with  a  quick 
ness  that  appeared  wonderful.  "  Call  a  hundred 
men  aft"  said  the  officer  on  the  quarter  deck 
to  a  midshipman,  when  something  urgent  was  to 
be  done.  In  a  moment,  a  hundred  men  were  there. 
Occasionally  the  trumpet  was  used  ;  the  straining 
of  the  voice  through  which  amidst  the  roaring  of 
the  winds,  had  a  hideous  sound. 

When  the  storm  began  to  abate,  I  fell  into  con 
versation  with  Commodore  Stewart.  We  were 
holding  on  to  one  of  the  guns,  that  had  been  run 
into  the  cabin.  "  Commodore,"  said  I,  "  this  is  a 
new  scene  to  me ;  what  could  you  do  if  we  were 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  23 

at  war  and  an  enemy  of  equal  force  hove  in  sight?" 
"  Chase  him"  he  said,  gravely.  "  What  then,"  I 
replied  ;  "  you  could  not  engage  I  suppose  ?  for 
ten  hours  your  ship  has  been  tempest-tost ;  all 
your  exertions  seem  to  have  been  required  to  re 
sist  the  storm."  "  True,"  he  said,  "  but  we  could 
keep  the  enemy  in  sight."  "But  certainly  you 
could  not  fight  him,"  I  again  remarked.  "  We 
could  not,"  he  rejoined,  "now,  but  we  should 
watch  each  other,  and  go  to  it  when  the  storm  was 
over"  "  What,  all  exhausted  with  the  labour  it 
has  cost,  all  dismantled  as  your  ship  is  ?"  "  Yes, 
as  quick  as  possible,"  he  answered ;  "  there  would 
be  no  time  to  lose ;  the  rigging  must  go  up  faster 
than  it  came  down."  Such  is  war.  The  elements 
cannot  stop  it.  Their  very  raging  seems  akin  to 
it.  This  was  no  vain  boasting.  The  commodore 
was  a  modest,  unassuming  man ;  but  faithful  to 
his  duty  in  the  battle  or  storm. 

An  incident  occurred  that  may  be  worth  men 
tioning  from  its  possible  bearing  upon  the  theory 
of  the  currents  along  our  coast.  We  left  the  capes 
of  Chesapeake  on  a  Sunday,  steering  for  England. 
On  the  following  Friday,  to  the  surprise  of  all  on 
board,  we  saw  land.  It  proved  to  be  the  Island 
of  Bermuda.  But  how  came  we  there  ?  Our  cap 
tain  had  no  intention  of  running  down  to  that  lat- 


24  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

itude.  From  the  first  few  hours  after  leaving  the 
capes,  the  winds  had  been  light,  chiefly  from  the 
north  and  north-west,  and  the  weather  thick.  No 
accurate  observations  could  be  taken.  We  were 
aware  that  the  ship  had  fallen  to  the  south  before 
entering  the  gulf  stream,  but  had  counted  upon  its 
current,  which  sweeps  from  south  to  north,  bring 
ing  us  sufficiently  back  again.  It  happened  that 
when  we  entered  it,  the  wind  freshened  and  carried 
us  across  very  fast,  dying  away  soon  afterwards. 
Thus  the  current  had  but  little  time  to  act,  in 
drifting  us  again  to  the  north.  This  seemed  to 
be,  in  part,  the  way  of  accounting  for  the  situation 
of  the  ship.  Yet  the  fact  was  strange,  that  she 
should  be  so  far  south,  as  no  very  strong  winds 
had  blown  from  the  north,  or  any  quarter.  I  am 
sensible  that  to  present  this  fact  with  nautical  accu 
racy,  the  precise  state  of  the  winds,  with  the  ship's 
reckoning  for  each  day,  ought  to  be  given,  which  I 
have  not  the  means  of  doing.  Humboldt,  who 
overlooked  nothing  connected  with  the  pheno 
mena  of  nature,  remarks  in  his  personal  narrative 
upon  the  small  portion  of  knowledge  which  we 
possess  of  the  absolute  position  and  breadth  of  the 
gulf  stream,  as  well  as  of  its  prolongation  towards 
the  coasts  of  Europe  and  Africa  ;  and  as  the  true 
knowledge  of  it  would  be  of  the  highest  import- 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  25 

ance  in  shortening  voyages,  he  hints  that  it  might 
be  useful  if  vessels  furnished  with  the  best  instru 
ments  were  instructed  to  cruise  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  in  the  Atlantic,  between  the  thirtieth 
and  fifty-fourth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  expressly 
with  a  view  to  determine  at  what  distances  and  in 
what  precise  directions  the  stream  is  found  in  dif 
ferent  seasons,  and  under  the  influence  of  different 
winds.  The  same  navigators,  he  remarks,  might 
have  instructions  to  examine  whether  this  great 
current  constantly  skirts  the  southern  bank  of 
Newfoundland ;  and  on  what  parallel  between  32 
and  40  degrees  of  west  longitude,  the  waters 
which  run  from  east  to  west,  are  nearest  to  those 
which  flow  in  an  opposite  direction.  The  commo 
dore,  who  was  considered  by  those  who  knew  him 
best,  to  be  as  skilful  a  navigator  as  he  was  an 
accomplished  officer,  inclined  to  the  belief  I 
thought,  that  the  currents  of  the  ocean,  the  theory 
of  which  we  do  not  yet  fully  understand,  had  ex 
erted  some  agency  in  bringing  the  ship  into  the 
situation  described. 

On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-eighth,  after  hav 
ing  had  Bermuda  in  view  for  a  few  hours,  and 
noticing  some  signals  made  to  us,  the  wind  spring 
ing  up,  we  gladly  bade  it  adieu,  and  laid  our  course 
for  England.  It  was  on  the  Sunday  following 


26  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

that  we  had  the  storm.     From  that  time  the  ship 
went  swiftly  onward  under  boisterous  winds.     On 
the  fourteenth  of  December  we  were  in  the  channel. 
The  nights  were  long  and  dark  ;  the  days  gloomy. 
We  could  get  no  good  observation  from  the  sun  or 
stars.     We  spoke  no  vessels,  saw  none ;  nor  any 
sign  of  a  pilot.     The  New  England  pilot  boats  and 
those  of  the  Chesapeake,  our  officers  said,  would 
run  out  to  sea  twenty  and  thirty  miles  to  look  for 
vessels  ;  but  here,  in  the  English  channel,  such  a 
highway  for  vessels,  no  pilots  were  to  be  seen,  and 
at  a  season  when  most  wanted.     It  was  somewhat 
remarkable,  that  neither  the  commodore,  who  had 
been  twenty  years  in  the  navy,  nor  any  of  his  lieu 
tenants,  though  seven  in  number,  and  some  like 
himself  familiar  with    almost  all  seas,   had  ever 
before  been  up  the  English  channel ;  nor  had  the 
sailing  master,  or  mate.     Cowes  or  Portsmouth, 
was  the  port  we  desired  to  make.     Our  midship 
men,  two  in  particular,  whose  names  I  remember, 
young  Powell  of  Virginia,  and  Cooper  of  New 
York,  would  climb  up  to  the  truck  of  the  main 
mast  ;  but  neither  land,  nor  light-house,  nor  pilot- 
boat,  nor  any  thing  could  be  descried.     All  was  a 
dreary  waste.     Throughout   the   fourteenth   and 
fifteenth,  the  commodore's  anxiety  was  very  great, 
especially  by  night,  for  the  weather  was  rough, 


I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  27 

and  he  believed  we  were  close  by  the  coast.  The 
ship  was  chiefly  steered  by  soundings ;  her  situa 
tion  being  ascertained  from  the  appearances  of  the 
soil  which  the  lead  brought  up ;  a  resource  when 
other  guides  of  navigation  fail,  but  tedious  and  apt 
to  prove  deceptive. 

At  length,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth, 
all  uneasiness  was  dispelled.  The  first  gleams  of 
light  disclosed  land.  It  was  a  long  blue-looking 
ridge,  rising  out  of  the  water.  A  gun  was  fired, 
which  brought  a  pilot.  We  learned,  as  he  stepped 
on  board,  that  the  land  before  us  was  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  and  that  we  were  near  Cowes.  All  eyes 
were  upon  him  as  he  passed  along  the  deck.  The 
first  person  that  comes  on  ship-board  after  a  voy 
age,  seems  like  a  new  link  to  human  existence. 
When  he  took  his  station  at  the  helm,  I  heard  the 
commodore  ask  how  the  Needles  bore.  "  Ahead, 
north"  he  answered.  Do  you  take  the  ship 
through  them  ?  "  Aye"  Does  the  wind  set  right, 
and  have  you  enough ?  "  Aye"  This  closed  all 
dialogue,  as  far  as  I  heard.  He  remained  at  his 
post  giving  his  laconic  orders.  In  good  time  we 
approached  the  Needles.  The  spectacle  was  grand. 
Our  officers  gazed  in  admiration.  The  very  men, 
who  swarmed  upon  the  deck,  made  a  pause  to  look 
up  to  the  giddy  height.  The  most  exact  steering 


28  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1817 

seemed  necessary  to  save  the  ship  from  the  sharp 
rocks  that  compress  the  waters  into  the  narrow 
strait  below.  But  she  passed  easily  through. 
There  is  something  imposing  in  entering  England 
by  this  access.  I  afterwards  entered  at  Dover,  in 
a  packet  from  Calais ;  my  eye  fixed  upon  the  sen 
tinels  as  they  slowly  paced  the  heights  with  their 
gleaming  muskets.  But  those  cliffs,  bold  as  they 
are,  and  immortalized  by  Shakespeare,  did  not 
equal  the  passage  through  the  Needles.  There  was 
a  breathless  curiosity  also  in  the  first  approach, 
augmenting  its  intrinsic  grandeur. 

In  a  little  while  we  anchored  off  Cowes.  If  the 
Needles  were  a  grand  sight,  the  one  now  before  us 
was  full  of  beauty.  Castles,  cottages,  villas,  gar 
dens,  were  scattered  on  all  sides.  When  we  left 
our  own  country,  the  leaves  had  fallen  and  the 
grass  lost  its  green ;  but  now,  although  the  season 
was  more  advanced,  and  we  had  got  to  a  higher 
latitude,  a  general  verdure  was  to  be  seen.  This 
was  doubtless  the  effect  in  part  of  exquisite  culti 
vation,  and  in  part  of  the  natural  moisture  and 
mildness  of  the  climate  of  this  part  of  England. 
As  we  looked  all  round,  after  so  immediately 
emerging  from  the  gloom  of  the  ocean,  it  seemed 
like  enchantment.  Boats  came  off  from  the  shore, 
to  look  at  our  ship ;  the  persons  in  them,  their 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  29 

dress,  countenances,  the  minutest  thing,  fixed  our 
attention.  Our  consul  at  Cowes  came  on  board, 
and  some  officers  of  the  port.  Three  pilots  also 
came.  Between  these  and  our  pilot,  words  were 
soon  heard.  The  cause  was  remarkable.  It  turn 
ed  out  that  our  pilot  was,  in  fact,  no  pilot.  He  had 
been  one,  but  his  branch  was  taken  away  for 
habitual  drunkenness.  Continuing  to  own  his 
boat,  he  sailed  about  this  part  of  the  channel  at 
his  pleasure,  like  the  old  man  of  the  sea.  Hearing 
our  gun,  he  came  on  board,  and,  making  the  most 
of  our  being  a  foreign  ship,  cunningly  resorted  to 
the  exercise  of  his  old  craft.  The  disappointed 
pilots  declared,  and  our  consul  rather  con 
firmed  what  they  said,  that,  at  the  moment  of  their 
dispute,  he  was  in  a  state  of  intoxication  ;  so  that, 
we  were  then  first  made  acquainted  with  the  fact 
of  having  been  brought  through  the  Needles  by  a 
drunken  steersman !  It  appeared  singular  that 
such  an  occurrence  should  have  happened  in  the 
English  channel ;  yet  so  it  was.  It  was  hinted 
that  he  had  so  good  a  tact  in  his  business,  and 
knew  that  part  of  the  coast  so  well,  that  he  would 
generally  steer  right  even  when  drunk.  Such  was 
the  lucky  accident  in  our  case,  and,  being  ignorant, 
we  were  not  uneasy.  His  drunkenness  taking  the 
form  of  taciturnity,  he  escaped  detection  in  the 


30  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

eyes  of  strangers,  though  his  sulkiness  had  not 
been  unobserved.  The  others  stoutly  denied  his 
right  to  any  fees ;  but  as  the  fact  of  service  per 
formed  was  in  his  favour,  and  no  one  else  could 
claim  on  that  ground,  the  commodore  did  not  think 
that  it  rested  with  him  to  settle  points  of  law. 
Our  Palinurus  certainly  had  the  advantage  in  alert 
ness,  over  the  sleepy  set  who  would  have  robbed 
him  of  his  reward. 

"  Cassio,  I  forgive  thee  ; 
But  never  more  be  officer  of  mine." 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  31 


CHAPTER  II. 

Landing  at  Portsmouth,  and  journey  to  London. 

I  STAID  on  ship-board  two  days,  waiting  the  pro 
per  order  from  London,  for  which  the  consul  had 
written,  to  have  my  baggage  passed.  During  this 
interval  the  surrounding  scene  lost  none  of  its 
interest.  It  was  further  enlivened  by  visiters 
coming  on  board  the  ship.  We  got  the  London 
newspapers  wet  from  the  press.  It  is  a  remark  of 
Humboldt,  that  no  language  can  express  the  emo 
tion  that  a  European  naturalist  feels  when  h& 
touches  for  the  first  time,  American  land.  May 
not  the  remark  be  reversed  by  saying,  that  no 
language  can  express  the  emotion  which  almost 
every  American  feels,  when  he  first  touches  the 
shores  of  Europe.  This  feeling  must  have  a  spe 
cial  increase,  if  it  be  the  case  of  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  going  to  England.  Her  fame  is 
constantly  before  him.  He  hears  of  her  states 
men,  her  orators,  her  scholars,  her  philosophers, 


32  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

her  divines,  her  patriots.  In  the  nursery  he  learns 
her  ballads.  Her  poets  train  his  imagination. 
Her  novelists  carry  him  into  the  scenes  and  loca 
lities  of  social  life.  Her  language  is  his,  with  its 
whole  intellectual  riches,  past,  and  forever  newly 
flowing;  a  tie,  to  use  Burke's  figure,  light  as 
air,  and  unseen ;  but  stronger  than  links  of  iron. 
In  spite  of  political  differences,  her  glory  allures 
him.  In  spite  of  hostile  collision,  he  clings  to 
her  lineage.  After  Captain  Decatur's  capture  of 
a  British  frigate,  some  one  asked  him  if  his  forefa 
thers  were  not  French.  "  No,  I  beg  pardon,"  he  an- 
'swered,  with  some  emphasis,  "  they  were  English" 
In  that  spirit,  would  his  countrymen  generally 
answer.  Walking  the  deck  with  two  of  our  lieu 
tenants  while  sounding  up  the  channel,  "  Think" 
said  one  of  them,  "  that  we  may  be  in  the  track  of 
the  Armada;"  and  they  talked  of  the  heroine-queen, 
at  Tilbury.  These  are  irrepressible  feelings  in  an 
American.  His  native  patriotism  takes  a  higher 
tone  from  dwelling  on  the  illustrious  parent  stock. 
Places  and  incidents  that  Englishmen  pass  by,  fill 
his  imagination.  He  sees  the  past  in  conjunction 
with  the  present.  Three  thousand  miles,  said 
Franklin,  are  as  three  thousand  years.  Interven 
tion  of  space  seems  to  kindle  enthusiasm,  like  in 
tervention  of  time.  Is  it  not  fit  that  two  such 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  33 

nations  should  be  friends  ?  Let  us  hope  so.  It  is 
the  hope  which  every  minister  from  the  United 
States  should  carry  with  him  to  England.  It  is 
the  hope  in  which  every  British  minister  of  state 
should  meet  him.  If,  nevertheless,  rivalry  is  in 
the  nature  of  things,  at  least  let  it  be  on  fair  prin 
ciples.  Let  it  be  generous,  never  paltry,  never 
malignant. 

The  order  for  my  baggage  not  arriving  at  the 
time  expected,  I  landed  without  it.  Preferring  to 
land  at  Portsmouth,  the  boats  were  prepared,  and 
on  the  nineteenth  I  left  the  ship.  The  commodore 
and  some  of  his  officers  accompanied  me.  A  salute 
was  fired  as  on  embarking ;  the  usual  ceremony 
when  our  ministers  are  received  on  board,  or  land 
ed  from,  the  national  ships.  Approaching  Ports 
mouth,  we  passed  numerous  vessels  of  war,  some 
lying  in  ordinary,  some  ready  for  sea.  There 
were  docks,  and  arsenals,  and  store  houses,  and 
batteries,  and  fortifications.  The  day  was  fair, 
and  wind  fresh.  This  gave  animation  to  the  har 
bour  scene,  swelling  the  sails  of  vessels  in  motion, 
and  streaming  out  the  colours  of  those  at  anchor. 
It  was  a  fine  naval  panorama.  Besides  formida 
ble  rows  of  line  of  battle  ships  and  frigates,  we 
saw  transports  crowded  with  troops.  I  had  before 
seen  ports  alive  with  the  bustle  of  trade;  but 


34  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

never  one  so  frowning  and  glistening  with  features 
and  objects  of  war. 

When  we  reached  the  shore,  tide-waiters  ad 
vanced  to  take  possession  of  my  baggage.  They 
were  informed  of  my  public  character.  This  did 
not  turn  them  from  their  purpose.  The  national 
ship  from  which  I  had  debarked,  was  in  view ;  her 
colours  flying ;  the  very  salute  had  been  heard. 
Still  they  alleged,  that  having  received  no  or 
ders  to  the  contrary,  they  must  inspect  my  bag 
gage.  I  said  to  Commodore  Stewart  that,  strictly, 
they  were  right,  and  directed  my  servant  to  deli 
ver  it.  There  was  but  little,  the  principal  part 
having  been  left  on  board  to  await  the  permit  of 
exemption.  It  might  have  been  supposed  that 
these  anxious  guardians  of  the  revenue  would  have 
satisfied  their  sense  of  duty  by  a  merely  formal 
examination  of  what  was  delivered  so  readily. 
Not  so  ;  carpet  bags  were  ransacked ;  the  folds  of 
linen  opened,  as  if  Brussels  lace  had  been  hidden 
in  them;  small  portmanteaus  peered  into,  as  if 
contraband  lurked  in  every  corner.  Nothing  was 
overlooked.  A  few  books  brought  for  amusement 
on  the  voyage  were  taken  possession  of,  and  I  had 
to  go  on  without  them.  I  should  have  been  dis 
posed  to  make  complaint  of  this  mock  official 
fidelity  and  subaltern  folly,  but  from  an  unwilling- 


1817  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  35 

ness  to  begin  my  public  career  with  a  complaint ; 
and  I  remembered  to  have  heard  Mr.  Adams  say, 
that  when  the  allied  sovereigns  visited  England 
after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  their  baggage  was 
inspected  at  Dover,  the  order  for  exemption  having, 
by  an  inadvertence,  not  been  sent.  There  is  no 
privilege,  by  positive  law,  of  a  foreign  minister's 
effects  from  custom  house  examination  ;  but  by 
universal  comity,  it  is  forborne.  The  exercise  of 
such  a  claim  with  the  privity  of  a  government, 
would  become  an  affront.  I  must  add,  that  the 
order  for  the  full  delivery  of  all  mine,  with  every 
immunity,  arrived  at  Cowes  soon  after  I  left  the 
ship. 

I  proceeded  to  the  George  Inn  in  Portsmouth, 
where  the  commodore  and  his  officers  were  to 
give  me  the  favour  of  their  company  to  dinner. 
Arrived  there,  we  had  every  attention  from  the 
master  and  his  servants.  Comfortable  apartments 
had  been  provided,  and  we  found  throughout 
that  careful  anticipation  of  our  wants  and  orderly 
arrangement  of  every  thing,  for  which  we  had 
understood  English  inns  were  remarkable. 

Whilst  seated  round  our  fire  in  the  even 
ing,  fatigued  by  the  excitements  we  had  gone 
through,  and  waiting  the  summons  to  dinner,  we 
heard  bells.  It  was  a  fine  chime,  to  which  we 


36  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [~1817. 

all  listened,  my  wife  being  particularly  fond  of  their 
music.  Sometimes  the  sound  grew  faint,  and  then, 
from  a  turn  in  the  wind,  came  back  in  peals.  We 
knew  not  the  cause.  It  passed  in  our  thoughts, 
that  the  same  bells  might  have  rung  their  hurras 
for  the  victories  of  Hawke  and  Nelson  :  "  Perhaps," 
said  one  of  the  party,  "/or  Sir  Cloudsley  Shovel's 
too"  Thus  musing,  an  unexpected  piece  of  intel 
ligence  found  its  way  into  our  circle.  We  were 
given  to  understand,  that  they  were  ringing  on  the 
occasion  of  my  arrival ;  a  compliment  to  my  station 
to  which  I  had  not  looked.  We  went  in  to  our 
first  dinner  in  England,  under  a  continuation  of 
their  peals.  The  cloth  removed,  we  had  a  glass 
or  two  to  our  country  and  friends,  after  which 
we  returned  to  our  sitting  room.  When  reas 
sembled  there,  I  had  an  intimation  that  "  The 
Royal  Bell-ringers"  were  in  waiting  in  the  hall, 
desirous  of  seeing  me.  They  did  not  ask  admit 
tance,  I  was  told,  but  at  my  pleasure.  I  directed 
them  to  be  shown  in  at  once,  beginning  now  to 
understand  the  spring  to  the  compliment.  Eight 
men  with  coats  reaching  down  to  their  feet, 
hereupon  slowly  entered.  They  ranged  them 
selves,  one  after  another,  in  a  solemn  line  alono- 

77  o 

the  wall.  Every  thing  being  adjusted,  the  spokes 
man  at  their  head  broke  silence,  with  the  following 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  37 

address.  He  said  that  they  had  come  "  with  their 
due  and  customary  respects,  to  wish  me  joy  on 
my  safe  arrival  in  old  England,  as  ambassador 
extraordinary  from  the  United  States,  hoping  to 
receive  from  me  the  usual  favour,  such  as  they 
had  received  from  other  ambassadors,  for  which 
they  had  their  book  to  show"  Their  book  was  a 
curiosity.  It  looked  like  a  venerable  heir  loom  of 
office.  There  were  in  it,  the  names  of  I  know  not 
how  many  ambassadors,  ministers,  and  other  func 
tionaries,  arriving  from  foreign  parts,  throughout 
the  lapse  of  I  know  not  how  many  ages,  with  the 
donations  annexed  to  each.  Magna  charta  itself 
was  not  a  more  important  document  to  the  liber 
ties  of  England,  than  this  book  to  the  Royal  Bell- 
ringers  of  Portsmouth  !  I  cheerfully  gave  to  the 
good-humoured  fraternity,  the  gratuity  which  their 
efforts  in  their  vocation  appeared  to  have  drawn 
from  so  many  others  under  like  circumstances. 
So,  and  with  other  incidents,  passed  my  first  day 
in  England. 

On  the  following  morning,  Admiral  Thornbo- 
rough,  the  admiral  in  command  at  Portsmouth, 
Sir  James  Yeo,  captain  in  the  British  navy,  and 
Sir  George  Grey,  chief  commissioner  of  the  dock 
yard,  called  upon  me.  They  offered  their  con 
gratulations  on  my  arrival.  The  admiral  said, 


38  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

that  if  Commodore  Stewart  required  any  supplies 
for  his  ship,  every  facility  which  the  yard  afforded 
would  be  at  his  command.  He  added,  that  he 
would  be  happy  in  the  opportunity  of  showing  him 
the  hospitalities  of  the  port.  Sir  George  Grey 
expressed  his  regrets  that  he  had  not  known  of 
my  intention  to  land  at  Portsmouth,  saying  that 
he  would  have  sent  the  admiralty  yatch  to  the 
Franklin  to  bring  me,  my  family  and  suite,  on 
shore ;  the  more  so,  as  the  day  was  blustering, 
and  he  feared  we  had  suffered  from  exposure  in 
the  ship's  boats,  the  distance  being  several  miles 
from  Cowes  to  Portsmouth.  I  made  the  acknow 
ledgments  which  these  courtesies  demanded.  If 
but  the  natural  offspring  of  the  occasion,  they 
tended  to  show,  that  whatever  had  been  the  con 
duct  of  the  subordinates  of  the  custom  house, 
those  who  stood  higher  were  likely  to  be  actuated 
by  different  feelings  towards  an  official  stranger. 
I  estimated  properly  Sir  George  Grey's  offer,  but 
had  a  silent  feeling  that  would  have  made  me 
prefer,  under  any  circumstances,  the  landing  from 
the  ship's  boats,  with  my  country's  flag  at  the 
stern. 

At  noon  I  set  out  for  London.  My  family  con 
sisted  of  my  wife,  four  small  children,  young  Mr. 
Tayloe  of  Washington,  attached  to  my  legation, 


1817  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  39 

whose  name  I  cannot  mention  without  an  allusion 
to  his  amiable  and  gentlemanly  qualities,  and  three 
servants.  As  the  post  chaises  drew  up,  the  master 
of  the  inn  returned  me  his  thanks  for  my  custom. 
The  servants  also  formed  a  line  on  each  side  of 
the  entry,  thanking  us  as  we  passed  along.  I  am 
aware  that  this  had  all  been  paid  for ;  still,  there 
is  a  charm  in  civility.  Money  owing,  says  the 
moralist  of  Tusculanum,  is  not  paid,  arid  when 
paid,  is  not  owing;  but  he  who  pays  gratitude 
possesses  it,  and  he  who  possesses,  pays  it.  So, 
civility  for  the  small  things  of  life,  is  a  species  of 
gratitude  which  we  like.  We  were  soon  out  of 
Portsmouth,  and  went  as  far  as  Godalming  that 
day,  a  distance  of  thirty-eight  miles,  over  roads 
like  a  floor. 

I  was  surprised  at  the  few  houses  along  or  near 
the  road  side.  I  had  been  full  of  the  idea  of  the 
populousness  of  England,  and  although  I  must 
needs  have  supposed  that  this  could  not  be  the 
case  in  every  spot,  it  had  not  occurred  to  me,  that 
along  such  a  high  road  I  should  find  the  first  and 
so  remarkable  an  exception.  We  rarely  met 
wagons,  carriages,  or  vehicles  of  any  sort,  except 
stage  coaches.  We  did  not  see  a  single  person  on 
horseback.  The  stage  coaches  illustrated  what 
is  said  of  the  excellence  of  that  mode  of  travelling 


40  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

in  England.  These,  as  they  came  swiftly  down 
the  hills,  or  were  met  in  full  trot  upon  the  plains, 
the  horses  fine,  the  harness  bright,  and  the  inside 
and  out  filled  with  passengers,  not  only  men  but 
women,  all  well  dressed,  crowding  the  tops,  had 
a  bold  and  picturesque  appearance.  The  few  pea 
sants  whom  we  saw,  were  fully  and  warmly  clad. 
They  wore  breeches  and  stockings,  a  heavy  shoe, 
which,  lacing  over  the  ankle,  made  the  foot  look 
clumsy ;  a  linen  frock  over  the  coat,  worked 
with  plaits,  and  stout  leather  gloves,  which  they 
kept  -on  while  working.  They  were  generally 
robust  men,  short,  arid  of  fair  complexions.  We 
passed  a  wagon  of  great  size.  It  had  no  pole,  but 
double  shafts,  with  a  horse  in  each,  and  a  line  of 
four  horses  before  each  shaft  horse,  making  ten  in 
all,  of  enormous  size.  Their  tails  were  uncut, 
and  long  shaggy  hair,  hung  about  their  pasterns. 
The  wagon  was  loaded  with  bales  pile  upon  pile, 
higher  than  I  had  ever  seen.  Our  postillions  call 
ed  it  the  Portsmouth  heavy  wagon.  We  after 
wards  saw  others  of  like  size  and  construction, 
drawn  by  like  horses,  loaded  with  the  produce  of 
agriculture.  Whilst  the  draught  horses  were  thus 
enormous,  and  rough,  and  the  stage  coach  horses 
sleek  and  beautiful,  our  post  horses  were  small, 
gaunt  and  unsightly,  but  with  great  capacity  to  go 


j  g  j  7  -I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  4 1 

fast.  I  was  looking  for  a  favourable  change  in 
their  appearance  at  every  relay,  without  finding  it. 
In  good  time  I  discovered,  that  the  principle  of 
subdivision  applied  to  horses  with  as  much  strict 
ness  as  to  every  thing  else,  in  England,  there  being 
every  variety  for  work  and  luxury. 

In  regard  to  population,  I  had  subsequent  op 
portunities  of  perceiving,  that  there  were  other 
parts  of  England,  and  of  greater  extent,  where  it 
was  much  more  thin  than  was  generally  the  case 
from  Portsmouth  to  Godalming.  London,  and 
a  circuit  of  twenty  miles  round,  give  more  than 
two  millions  of  inhabitants ;  Yorkshire  gives  one 
million,  and  Lancashire  about  one  million.  Hence, 
these  three  portions  of  territory,  so  small  when 
compared  with  all  England,  embrace  nearly  one- 
third  of  her  population.  This  concentration  in 
particular  districts,  seems  to  have  left  others  rela 
tively  bare.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  under  such 
facts,  whatever  theories  we  meet  with,  that  Eng 
land  is  at  present  over-peopled.  Her  soil,  it  would 
seem,  must  be  open  to  further  meliorations,  which, 
with  improved  systems  of  policy  and  agriculture, 
and  further  means  of  internal  communication, 
great  as  are  already  the  latter,  will  in  time  not 
distant  carry  her  population  as  far  above  what  it 

now  is,  as  it  now  exceeds  what  it  was  at  the  period 

6 


42  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

of  her  early  kings.  If  we  take  Holland  as  an 
example  of  successful  industry  and  art,  where  a 
nation  has  been  compelled  to  struggle  against  the 
disadvantages  of  a  stinted  soil,  there  are  great 
portions  of  territory  in  England  still  like  a  desert, 
which  after  ages  may  behold  productive. 

At  Godalming,  we  lost  our  mocking-bird.  We 
had  brought  it  as  a  mark  of  remembrance  from 
Mr.  Crawford,  formerly  minister  of  the  United 
States  in  France,  to  Lady  Auckland,  for  some 
kindnesses  received  from  her  in  England.  We 
nursed  it  with  all  care  during  the  voyage. 
It  drooped  however  at  sea,  and  the  night  be 
ing  cold  at  Godalming,  it  died.  This  bird  is 
small,  and  has  no  beauty  of  plumage.  Its  notes 
are  as  melodious  as  the  nightingale's,  and  of  more 
variety ;  but  I  doubt  if  they  can  ever  be  drawn 
out  in  their  full  extent  and  richness,  except  in  its 
native  climates.  Mr.  Fox,  as  we  learn  in  the  in 
troduction  to  his  James  II.,  thought  the  notes  of 
the  nightingale  sprightly  rather  than  plaintive,  and 
refers  to  the  "  Floure  and  Leafe"  of  Chaucer,  as 
showing  him  to  have  been  of  that  opinion,  when 
he  speaks  of  its  merry  song.  Mr.  Fox  even  calls 
Theocritus  to  his  aid,  who  makes  the  yellow  night 
ingale  "  trill  her  minstrelsey"  in  notes  responsive  to 
the  cheerful  blackbirds.  Could  this  British  states- 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  43 

man,  who  in  the  midst  of  his  graver  pursuits  was 
so  alive  to  the  beauties  of  poetry  and  nature,  have 
heard  the  American  mocking-bird  "warbling  its 
wood  notes  wild,"  he  would  at  one  moment  have 
been  cheered  by  their  sprightliness ;  the  next, 
soothed  by  their  melancholy. 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-first,  we  proceed 
ed  on  our  journey.  Every  thing  now  began  to 
wear  a  different  aspect.  The  change  was  more 
decided  after  passing  Guilford,  the  county  town  of 
Surry.  We  saw  evidences  of  a  more  abundant 
population,  and  advanced  state  of  husbandry. 
The  season  did  not  show  the  country  in  its  best 
dress ;  but  we  were  enabled  to  see  more  of  it  by 
the  very  absence  of  the  foliage.  Farms  and  com 
mon  dwellings,  with  fields  beautifully  divided  and 
enclosed ;  country  seats,  with  lodges  and  stately 
gates  of  iron  marking  the  entrance  to  them ;  lawns 
fresh  and  verdant  though  it  was  the  winter  sol 
stice;  parks  and  pleasure  grounds  munificently 
enclosed;  ancient  trees  in  avenues,  standing  in 
copses,  or  shooting  up  among  the  hedges,  with 
shrubbery  tastefully  arranged  in  gardens,  and  vines 
and  flowers  clustering  about  the  houses,  were 
among  the  objects  that  rose  in  succession  as  we 
passed  along.  We  put  frequent  questions  to  the 
postillions,  but  they  could  tell  us  little.  The  eye 


44  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

was  constantly  occupied.  None  of  us  had  ever 
before  been  in  Europe.  As  we  got  nearer  to  Lon 
don,  indications  multiplied  of  what  had  been  effect 
ed  by  time,  to  fill  up  its  vast  environs.  Unlike 
the  approaches  to  Rome,  some  of  which  are  said 
to  be  at  the  present  day  through  partial  desolation, 
all  within  our  view  grew  more  and  more  instinct 
with  life ;  until  at  length,  evening  coming  on,  at 
first  villages,  then  rows  of  buildings,  and  people, 
and  twinkling  lights,  and  all  kinds  of  sound,  gave 
token  that  the  metropolis  was  close  by.  We 
entered  it  by  Hyde  Park  corner,  passing  through 
Piccadilly  and  Bond  street,  beholding  the  moving 
crowds  which  now  the  town  lights  revealed.  Ano 
ther  turn  brought  us  into  Conduit  street,  where 
rooms  had  been  engaged  for  our  accommodation. 
In  a  little  while  we  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Ross 
Cuthbert,  Esquire,  in  Gloucester  Place,  a  gentle 
man  of  Lower  Canada,  married  to  one  of  my  sis 
ters,  at  whose  hospitable  table  we  dined ;  where 
also  it  was  my  fortune  to  meet  another  sister,  wife 
of  Major  Manners  of  the  British  army. 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  45 


CHAPTER  III. 


First  interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh.     First  appearances  of 

London. 


December  22.  Address  a  note  to  Lord  Cas 
tlereagh,  the  English  secretary  of  state  for  foreign 
affairs,  informing  him  of  my  arrival.  I  ask 
when  I  may  have  the  honour  of  waiting  upon 
him.  He  immediately  replies,  that  he  will  be 
happy  to  see  me  at  the  foreign  office,  in  Downing 
street,  to-morrow  at  four  o'clock. 

December  23.  Went  to  the  foreign  office.  A 
sentry  was  walking  before  the  door.  I  was  ad 
mitted  by  a  porter,  and  shown  by  a  messenger  into 
an  ante-room.  Another  messenger  conducted  me 
upstairs  to  Lord  Castlereagh's  apartment.  First 
salutations  being  over,  I  said  that  I  should  be 
happy  to  learn  at  what  time  I  might  have  the  hon 
our  of  delivering  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince 
Regent,  my  letter  of  credence  from  the  President, 


46  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

constituting  me  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States,  at  his  royal 
highness's  court.  I  handed  his  lordship  a  copy  of 
the  letter.  He  replied  that  the  Prince  was  at 
Brighton ;  that  he  himself  was  going  there  on  the 
day  following,  expecting  to  be  absent  a  week; 
that  he  did  not  know  precisely  when  the  prince 
would  leave  Brighton,  but  was  sure  he  would  ap 
point  an  early  day  for  receiving  me,  after  he  came 
to  town.  I  said,  that  his  royal  highness's  pleasure 
on  the  occasion,  would  be  mine.  His  lordship 
begged  I  would  consider  myself  free  to  call  upon 
him,  immediately  after  his  own  return  to  town ; 
remarking,  that  he  would  consider  my  reception 
by  the  prince  as  having  taken  place,  if  there  were 
any  subjects  I  desired  to  broach  beforehand.  He 
added,  that  his  wish  would  invariably  be,  to  give 
every  facility  to  the  transaction  of  business  be 
tween  us,  in  the  hope  of  results  satisfactory  to 
both  countries ;  for  all  which  I  thanked  him.  He 
also  said,  that  perhaps  he  might  wish  to  converse 
with  me,  on  matters  of  business,  before  my  formal 
reception. 

He  made  inquiries  for  Mr.  Adams,  my  predeces 
sor  in  the  mission,  and  President  Monroe,  whom 
he  had  also  known  in  England.  He  spoke  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  United  States,  which  he  said  he 


1817.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  47 

heard  of  with  pleasure ;  remarking,  that  the  pros 
perity  of  one  commercial  nation,  contributed  to 
that  of  others.  His  whole  reception  of  me  was 
very  conciliatory.  There  was  a  simplicity  in  his 
manner,  the  best  and  most  attractive  characteris 
tic  of  a  first  interview.  It  lasted  about  twenty 
minutes. 

December  24.  Go  through  several  parts  of  the 
town ;  Bond  street,  Albemarle  street,  Berkeley 
square,  Piccadilly,  St.  James's  street  and  Park, 
Pall  Mall,  St.  James's  square,  the  Strand,  and  a 
few  others.  Well  dressed  persons,  men  and  wo 
men,  throng  them.  In  the  dresses  of  both,  black 
predominates.  It  is  nearly  universal.  This  pro 
ceeds  from  the  general  mourning  for  the  Princess 
Charlotte,  late  heiress  apparent  to  the  throne,  who 
died  in  November.  The  roll  of  chariots  and  car 
riages  of  all  kinds,  from  two  until  past  four,  was 
incessant.  In  all  directions  they  were  in  motion. 
It  was  like  a  show — the  horses,  the  coachmen 
with  triangular  hats  and  tassels,  the  footmen  with 
cockades  and  canes — it  seemed  as  if  nothing  could 
exceed  it  all.  Yet  I  was  told  that  the  sight  in 
Hyde  Park,  any  day  in  May  or  June,  was  more 
striking ;  and  that  if  it  happened  to  be  on  the  same 
day  with  the  Epsom  or  Ascot  races,  which  keep 


48  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

the  roads  alive  for  ten  miles  with  London  car 
riages,  a  stranger  misses  none  from  the  Park. 
Sometimes,  with  this  glitter  of  private  equipages, 
you  saw  a  stationary  line  of  hacks,  the  worn-down 
horses  eating  out  of  nose-bags ;  and  sometimes, 
at  a  slow,  tugging  walk,  immense  wagons  filled 
with  coals,  in  black  sacks,  drawn  by  black  horses, 
large  and  shaggy  and  fat  as  those  in  the  Ports 
mouth  wagon.  I  am  disappointed  in  the  general 
exterior  of  the  dwelling  houses.  I  had  anticipated 
something  better  at  the  west  end  of  the  town ; 
more  symmetry;  buildings  more  by  themselves, 
denoting  the  residences  of  the  richest  people  in  the 
richest  city  in  Europe.  But  I  do  not  yet  see  these. 
I  see  haberdasher's  shops,  poulterer's  shops,  the 
leaden  stalls  of  fishmongers,  and  the  slaughtering 
blocks  of  butchers,  in  the  near  vicinity  of  a  noble 
man's  mansion  and  a  king's  palace.  This  may  be 
necessary  or  convenient,  for  the  supplies  of  a  capi 
tal  too  large  to  admit  of  one  or  more  concentrated 
markets ;  but  the  imagination  at  a  distance  pic 
tures  something  different.  Perhaps  it  is  to  give  a 
hint  of  English  liberty.  If  so,  I  ought  to  be  the 
last  to  find  fault.  Being  the  day  before  Christmas, 
there  was  more  display  in  the  shops  than  usual. 
I  did  not  get  back  until  candle  light,  when  the 
whole  scene  began  to  be  illuminated.  Altogether, 


1817  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  49 

what  a  scene  it  was  !  the  shops  in  the  Strand  and 
elsewhere,  where  every  conceivable  article  lay  be 
fore  you  ;  and  all  made  in  England — which  struck 
me  the  more,  coming  from  a  country  where  few 
things  are  made,  however  foreign  commerce  may 
send  them  to  us ;  then,  the  open  squares  and  gar 
dens,  adorned  with  shrubbery  and  trees ;  the  parks 
with  their  spacious  avenues  and  ancient  trees ;  the 
palisades  of  iron,  or  enclosures  of  solid  wall,  wher 
ever  enclosures  were  requisite ;  the  people ;  the 
countless  number  of  equipages  and  fine  horses ;  the 
gigantic  draught  horses — what  an  aspect  the  whole 
exhibited  !  what  industry,  what  luxury,  what  infi 
nite  particulars,  what  an  aggregate !  The  men  were 
taller  and  straiter  than  the  peasantry  I  had  seen. 
The  lineaments  of  a  race  descend  like  their  lan 
guage.  The  people  I  met,  constantly  reminded  me 
of  those  of  my  own  country ;  I  caught  the  same 
expression — often  it  glided  by  in  complete  iden 
tity — my  ear  took  in  on  all  sides  accents  to  which 
it  was  native — but  I  knew  no  one.  It  was  like 
coming  to  another  planet,  familiar  with  voices 
and  faces,  yet  encircled  by  strangers. 

December  31.  The  fog  was  so  thick  that  the 
shops  in  Bond  street  had  lights  at  noon.  I  could 
not  see  people  in  the  street  from  my  windows.  I 


50  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1817. 

am  tempted  to  ask,  how  the  English  became  great 
with  so  little  day  light.  It  seems  not  to  come  fully 
out  until  nine  in  the  morning,  and  immediately 
after  four  it  is  gone.  King  Charles's  saying  of  the 
English  climate,  is  often  brought  up ;  that  it  inter 
rupts  out-door  labour  fewer  days  in  the  year  than 
any  other.  Did  he  remember  the  fogs,  and  how 
very  short  the  day  is,  for  labour,  during  a  portion 
of  the  year  I 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  51 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — slaves  carried  away  from 
the  United  States  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent — equali 
zation  of  tonnage  duties — West  India  trade.  Members  of 
the  British  and  American  cabinets. 

January  3.  Waited  on  Lord  Castlereagh  at 
eleven  in  the  morning,  at  his  private  residence,  St. 
James's  square.  It  was  by  his  request,  in  a  note 
received  yesterday.  I  was  shown  into  a  room 
near  the  hall.  Family  portraits  were  on  one  side, 
books  on  another,  and  two  white  bull  dogs  lying 
before  the  fire.  Contradicting  their  looks,  they 
proved  good-natured.  In  a  few  minutes,  a  servant 
conducted  me  into  a  room  adjoining,  where  I  found 
Lord  Castlereagh.  He  received  me  with  his  for 
mer  courtesy,  renewing  his  obliging  inquiries  for 
the  health  of  my  family  after  our  winter's  voyage, 
with  the  expression  of  a  hope  that  the  fogs  of  Lon 
don  had  not  alarmed  us. 

He  informed  me  that  he  had  been  to  Brighton, 
and  delivered  to  the  Prince  Regent  the  copy  of  my 


52  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

letter  of  credence,  and  that  the  prince  would  re 
ceive  me  as  soon  as  he  came  ta  town.  In  the 
meantime,  he  had  his  royal  highness's  commands 
to  say,  that  I  must  look  upon  myself  as  already, 
in  effect,  accredited. 

He  proceeded  to  say,  that  if  there  were  any 
subjects  of  business  I  desired  to  mention,  he  would 
hear  me.  He  remarked,  that  it  had  been  his 
habit  to  treat  of  business  with  the  foreign  minis 
ters  in  frank  conversations ;  a  course  that  saved 
time,  and  was  in  other  ways  preferable,  as  a  gen 
eral  one,  to  official  notes.  He  intimated  his  wish 
to  do  the  same  with  me.  I  replied,  that  nothing 
could  be  more  agreeable  to  me  than  to  be  placed 
upon  that  footing  with  him. 

The  way  being  opened  for  business,  I  entered 
upon  it.  I  said  there  were  two  subjects  that  my 
government  had  charged  me  to  bring  to  the  notice 
of  his  majesty's,  without  delay.  The  first  had 
reference  to  the  slaves  carried  off  by  English  ships 
from  the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  late  war, 
in  contravention,  as  we  alleged,  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent.  This  subject,  already  discussed  between 
the  two  governments  without  prospect  of  an  agree 
ment,  was  exciting,  I  remarked,  an  interest  in  the 
United  States,  to  be  expected  where  the  property 
and  rights  of  a  large  class  of  their  citizens  were  at 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  53 

stake.  It  had  therefore  been  made  my  earliest 
duty  to  renew  the  proposition  submitted  by  my 
government,  and  believed  to  point  to  the  best,  if 
not  only  mode  of  satisfactory  settlement.  The 
proposition  was,  that  the  question  be  referred  to  a 
third  power,  to  be  chosen  as  umpire  between  the 
parties.  This  course  was  recommended  by  the 
example  of  provisions  in  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  on 
other  subjects  as  to  which  differences  of  opinion 
had  existed  between  the  two  nations  ;  my  govern 
ment  therefore  had  the  hope,  that  Great  Britain 
would  accede  to  it  in  this  instance  also. 

His  lordship  said,  that  he  had  been  much  on  the 
continent  whilst  the  discussions  on  this  subject 
were  going  forward,  and  inquired  if  we  had  pre 
cise  information  as  to  the  number  of  slaves  carried 
away.  I  replied,  not  in  hand,  but  that  it  would  be 
afforded  at  the  proper  time.  He  next  asked,  if 
their  dispersed  situation  would  not  be  an  impedi 
ment  to  restitution.  This  was  met  by  saying,  that 
the  owners  would  look  to  a  pecuniary  equivalent. 
Conversation  was  continued  on  the  general  ques 
tion.  In  conclusion,  he  promised  to  bear  it  in  mind. 

The  next  subject  grew  out  of  the  commercial 
convention  between  the  two  countries,  of  the  third 
of  July,  1815.  This  convention  had  established  a 
reciprocity  of  duties  and  charges  of  all  kinds,  upon 


54  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  vessels  of  the  two  nations  in  each  others'  ports. 
Its  operation  was,  by  its  terms,  to  begin  from  the 
day  of  its  date.  The  rule  of  reciprocity  ought 
therefore  to  have  attached,  practically,  at  that 
time ;  instead  of  which,  each  nation  continued  for 
a  while  to  levy  the  duties  existing  before  the  con 
vention,  and  Great  Britain  had  not  yet  abolished 
them  all.  My  government  desired,  I  said,  to  car 
ry  back  the  operation  of  the  convention  to  the 
day  of  its  date,  and  was  ready  to  give  this  rule  effect 
by  retrospective  measures,  hoping  to  find  a  corres 
ponding  disposition  in  his  majesty's  government. 

This  subject  being  new  to  his  lordship,  he  gave 
no  opinion  upon  it,  but  promised,  as  in  the  other 
case,  to  seek  the  necessary  lights  for  forming  one. 
I  may  state,  that,  in  the  end,  it  was  adjusted  to 
the  satisfaction  of  both  nations. 

The  foregoing  being  the  only  topics  which  it  fell 
within  my  purpose  to  bring  to  his  lordship's  notice 
at  this  time,  he,  in  turn,  drew  my  attention  to  a 
subject  on  which  he  desired  information. 

It  related  to  the  four  articles  submitted  by  the 
British  government  to  my  predecessor,  for  partially 
opening  the  West  India  trade  to  the  vessels  of 
the  United  States.  His  lordship  wished  to  know, 
what  probability  there  was  of  my  government 
agreeing  to  them. 


ISIS.~\          COURT  OF  LONDON.  55 

As  this  trade  enters  much  into  future  negotia 
tions  between  the  two  countries,  the  first  mention 
of  the  subject  calls  for  a  succinct  explanation  of  the 
general  question.  Politicians  understand  it,  but 
there  are  others,  and  well  informed  persons,  who 
have  often  heard  of  it  without  having  any  precise 
idea  of  its  nature. 

It  stands  thus,  according  to  the  statement  on 
the  side  of  the  United  States.  They  contend  for 
a  free  intercourse  in  their  vessels,  with  the  British 
West  India  Islands,  and  British  colonies  on  the 
continent  of  North  America,  whenever  the  trade 
to  either,  is  opened  at  all  by  Great  Britain  to  their 
flag;  else  they  say,  that,  by  navigation  acts  of 
their  own,  they  will  be  obliged  to  prohibit  the 
trade  altogether.  The  steady  policy  of  England 
has  been,  to  secure  as  large  an  employment  as 
possible  of  her  own  tonnage,  in  carrying  on  her 
commerce  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  Her  cele 
brated  navigation  acts,  commenced  in  Cromwell's 
time  and  adhered  to  in  principle  ever  since,  what 
ever  occasional  departures  there  may  have  been 
from  them  in  practice,  have  all  had  this  end  in  view. 
They  provided,  that  the  whole  trade  between  Eng 
land,  and  the  continents  of  Asia,  Africa  and  Ame 
rica,  should  be  carried  on  in  English  ships,  manned 
by  English  sailors.  They  also  embraced  regula- 


56  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tions  that  placed  the  trade  between  England  and 
the  European  nations,  upon  nearly  the  same  foot 
ing.  It  was  against  the  previous  monopoly  of 
Dutch  tonnage  that  these  navigation  acts  were 
levelled.  What  more  natural,  than  that  other 
nations  should  be  unwilling  to  witness  the  same 
monopoly  in  the  tonnage  of  England,  that  she 
objected  to  in  that  of  the  Dutch ;  more  especially 
since  the  foreign  and  colonial  dominions  of  the 
former  have  swelled  to  an  extent  that  could 
scarcely  have  been  conceived  in  the  time  of  Crom 
well  ?  The  West  India  islands  being  part  of  the 
British  empire,  her  right  to  interdict  all  trade  be 
tween  them  and  any  foreign  country,  could  not  be 
denied  ;  and  was  not.  As  a  general  rule,  she  did 
interdict  it.  But  there  were  junctures  when,  to  ad 
vance  objects  of  her  own,  she  would  throw  the 
trade  open  to  the  United  States.  When  she  did 
this,  she  confined  it  to  her  own  ships,  manned,  as  by 
law  they  must  be,  by  her  own  sailors.  What  the 
United  States  claimed  was,  that,  whenever  the 
trade  existed  at  all,  it  should  be  carried  on  in  their 
vessels,  manned  by  their  sailors,  as  well  as  with 
the  vessels  and  sailors  of  England.  The  trade 
once  opened,  the  United  States  were  parties  to  it ; 
and  thence  urged  their  right  to  a  voice  in  its  regu 
lation.  This  was  their  doctrine.  It  had  been 


1Q18  ]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  57 

maintained  since  the  days  of  President  Washing 
ton.  It  contemplated  no  interference  with  the 
colonial  rights,  or  monopoly,  of  Great  Britain.  It 
left  her  at  full  liberty  to  prohibit  the  importation 
into  her  colonies  of  whatever  articles  she  thought 
fit,  from  the  United  States ;  and  in  like  manner  to 
prohibit  exportations.  It  only  asked,  that  the 
commercial  intercourse,  of  whatever  nature  it 
might  be,  that  was  once  opened  for  her  benefit,  or 
that  of  both  countries,  should  be  placed  upon  a 
footing  of  equality  as  to  the  vessels  and  sailors  of 
both.  This  had  lately  been  done  in  the  trade  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  the  European  domin 
ions  of  Britain,  by  the  convention  of  July  1815. 
That  convention  itself,  unless  the  reciprocity  were 
extended  to  the  West  Indies,  would  give  undue 
advantages  to  British  vessels.  The  latter  could 
sail,  under  its  enactments,  from  Liverpool  to  New- 
York,  for  example,  paying,  in  New  York,  none 
other  than  American  duties.  Thence,  under  the 
English  colonial  system,  they  could  sail  to  the 
English  West  Indies,  and  back  again  to  England ; 
making  profit  from  this  threefold  operation.  Ame 
rican  vessels,  on  the  other  hand,  were  confined  to 
the  direct  track  between  New  York  and  Liverpool. 
The  British  ship,  as  was  well  expressed  by  a  dis 
tinguished  American  senator,  could  sail  on  the 

8 


58  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  T1818. 

three  sides  of  the  triangle ;  the  American,  only 
on  one. 

Britain  on  her  part  alleged,  that  she  Had  the 
right  to  regulate  the  trade  between  her  colonies 
and  the  rest  of  the  world  in  all  respects  as  she  saw 
fit.  This  she  declared  it  was  proper  she  should 
do,  not  only  as  regarded  the  commodities  entering 
into  the  trade,  but  the  vessels  carrying  them.  She 
said,  that  to  assent  to  the  basis  of  reciprocity  in 
her  trade  between  these  islands  and  the  United 
States,  would  give  to  the  latter  inherent  advan 
tages  owing  to  their  proximity  to  the  islands. 
That  she  maintained  the  islands  at  great  expense 
for  their  civil  governments  and  military  establish 
ments,  and  that  on  these  grounds,  as  well  as  that 
of  her  general  sovereignty  over  them,  not  only  had 
the  right,  but  held  it  necessary  to  her  just  interests 
to  employ,  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  her  own  ves 
sels  and  seamen  in  the  trade,  whenever  opened,  no 
matter  to  what  extent,  or  on  what  inducements. 
Such,  briefly,  was  the  British  doctrine.  It  will 
come  into  view  again. 

I  will  subjoin  a  brief  commentary  upon  the  ori 
ginal  navigation  act  of  England,  as  passed  by  the 
Commonwealth  parliament,  in  1652.  It  is  by  Jen- 
kinson,  from  his  work  on  treaties.  "Critics  in 
commerce  reason  variously,"  says  he,  "  on  the  be- 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  59 

nefits  or  disadvantages  of  this  act.  Those  who 
argue  in  its  disfavour,  reason  on  the  general  prin 
ciple  of  its  being  an  error  in  politics  to  interrupt 
the  free  course  of  commerce  by  any  kind  of  prohi 
bitions  whatsoever;  which  is  generally  true,  and 
would  be  always  so,  could  one  be  assured  of  con 
stant  universal  amity.  But  as  that  is  very  far  from 
being  the  case,  the  exception  to  the  general  rule  in 
this  case  holds  good,  since  nothing  is  more  clear, 
than  that  those  who  employ  most  ships  will  have 
most  seamen,  and  consequently  be  best  enabled  to 
command  the  sea.  It  was  but  too  evident  by  this 
short  war  [Cromwell's  with  Holland]  how  near  a 
match  for  us  the  Dutch  were,  and  continued  so 
for  some  years  after ;  and  had  not  this  act  been 
made,  would  very  probably  before  this  time  have 
been  too  potent  for  us,  as  they  would  have  had 
the  gross  of  the  European  seamen  in  their  service ; 
so  that  the  act,  notwithstanding  some  inconveni 
ences  it  might  produce  in  point  of  commerce,  was 
a  very  happy  thought  in  the  making,  and  shows 
our  judgment  in  its  being  continued." 

This  celebrated  act  may  be  said  to  have  chang 
ed  the  maritime  condition  of  the  world.  It  con 
tinues  to  this  day  to  affect  the  legislation  of  the 
United  States. 

The  four  articles  of  which   Lord  Castlereagh 


60  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

spoke,  reduced  to  their  essence  may  be  described 
thus : — The  first  extended  to  the  United  States, 
the  provisions  of  certain  Free  Port  acts,  as  they 
were  called,  authorizing  a  trade  in  the  articles 
which  they  enumerated,  between  certain  specified 
ports  of  the  British  West  Indies  and  the  colonies 
of  European  nations,  in  vessels  having  only  one 
deck.  The  second  made  a  special  provision  for 
the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  island 
of  Bermuda,  in  a  larger  list  of  articles,  and  with 
out  limiting  the  size  of  the  vessel.  The  third  al 
lowed  cotton  and  tobacco  to  be  imported  from  the 
United  States  in  their  own  vessels  to  Turk's  Isl 
and,  and  salt  to  be  taken  away  from  that  island, 
also  in  their  vessels.  The  fourth  aimed  at  regu 
lating  the  intercourse,  though  under  many  restric 
tions,  between  the  United  States  and  the  British 
continental  colonies  in  America,  adjoining  the 
dominions  of  the  former. 

To  his  lordship's  inquiry  as  to  the  probability  of 
my  government  agreeing  to  these  articles,  I  re 
plied,  that  the  President,  when  I  left  Washington, 
had  them  under  consideration ;  but  I  owed  it  to 
candour  to  say,  that  there  was  little  likelihood  of 
their  being  accepted,  so  far  did  they  fall  short  of 
the  reciprocity  desired.  He  afterwards  inquired 
of  what  nature  would  be  our  connter-projet,  in  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  61 

event  of  their  rejection.  I  said,  one  that  would 
open  this  trade  fully,  and,  above  all,  give  to  British 
vessels  no  privileges  of  any  kind  whatever,  direct 
or  incidental,  over  the  vessels  of  the  United  States. 
The  latter  were  ready  to  grant,  in  their  ports,  to 
British  vessels  coming  from  the  islands,  all  the  pri 
vileges  which  their  own  vessels  enjoyed;  and 
could  not  be  content  with  less  to  their  vessels,  in 
the  ports  of  the  islands.  His  lordship  here  spoke 
generally  of  the  colonial  system  of  Britain.  He 
said  it  was  interwoven  with  her  whole  commercial 
code,  and  code  of  navigation ;  and  that  she  owed 
it  to  interests  which  she  believed  to  be  important 
in  both  connexions,  to  adhere  to  the  system  in  the 
main,  however  willing  to  submit  to  occasional  or 
partial  relaxations.  I  rejoined,  that,  with  whatever 
reluctance  the  United  States  would  adopt  the  poli 
cy  of  closing  the  trade  altogether,  in  the  continued 
absence  of  the  reciprocity  for  which  they  contend 
ed,  they  would  at  last  be  compelled  to  adopt  it, 
in  necessary  justice  to  their  own  commercial  and 
navigating  interests.  I  referred  him  to  some  acts 
of  Congress  already  passed  with  that  intent.  He 
wound  up  by  remarking,  that  Britain,  considering 
the  nature  of  her  colonial  system,  had  no  right  to 
complain  of  measures  of  that  character  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  however  she  might 


Q2  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

regret  them ;  nor  would  she  complain.  She  had 
maintained  it  so  long,  that  she  would  find  it  diffi 
cult  on  that  as  well  as  other  accounts,  to  change 
it.  Such  was  the  general  outline  of  what  fell  from 
him. 

Before  I  came  away,  he  said,  that  the  Christmas 
holidays  had  scattered  the  members  of  the  cabi 
net  ;  they  were  chiefly  in  the  country ;  on  the  re 
turn  of  some  of  them  to  town,  he  would  avail  him 
self  of  an  early  opportunity  of  enabling  me  to  make 
their  acquaintance  by  meeting  them  at  dinner  at 
his  house. 

I  will  here  give  the  names  of  those  who  com 
posed  the  cabinet.  They  were  as  follow : — the 
Earl  of  Liverpool,  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  and 
prime  minister ;  Lord  Eldon,  lord  chancellor ;  the 
Earl  of  Harrowby,  lord  president  of  the  council ; 
the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  lord  privy  seal ;  Lord 
Sidmouth,  secretary  of  state  for  the  home  depart 
ment  ;  Lord  Castlereagh,  secretary  of  state  for 
foreign  affairs ;  Earl  Bathurst,  secretary  of  state 
for  the  colonial  department ;  Mr.  Vansittart,  chan 
cellor  of  the  exchequer ;  Lord  Melville,  first  lord 
of  the  admiralty ;  the  Earl  of  Mulgrave,  master 
general  of  the  ordnance  ;  Mr.  Canning,  president 
of  the  board  of  control  for  the  affairs  of  India ; 
Mr.  Wellesley  Pole,  master  of  the  mint,  and  Mr. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  53 

C.  B.  Bathurst,  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancas 
ter.  These  comprehended  the  whole  list  on  my 
arrival  in  England.  No  other  officers  of  the  go 
vernment,  however  high  in  station,  were  then  of 
the  cabinet.  The  secretary  of  war,  was  not ;  nor 
the  attorney  general.  The  absence  of  the  former, 
I  could  not  well  explain,  although  the  colonial  sec 
retary  acted  in  the  concerns  of  war  at  cabinet 
councils,  seeing  that  the  navy  had  a  stated  repre 
sentative  in  those  councils.  Was  not  the  army 
entitled  to  equal  consideration  ?  I  could  even  less 
explain  the  exclusion  of  the  attorney  general.  No 
acts  of  government,  in  a  free  country,  are  inde 
pendent  of  law.  Hence,  I  should  have  inferred, 
that  this  officer  would  have  been  one  of  the  prima 
ry  advisers  of  the  crown.  I  was  aware  of  the  high 
legal  functions  of  the  lord  chancellor ;  but  in  the 
complicated  and  daily  workings  of  the  machine  of 
free  government  throughout  a  vast  empire,  I  could 
still  see  room  for  the  constant  presence  of  the 
attorney  general  in  the  cabinet. 

During  my  residence  of  more  than  seven  years 
at  the  English  court,  this  administration  remained 
unchanged.  There  were  resignations  that  led  to 
new  appointments,  and  some  transpositions.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington  was  made  master  general  of 
the  ordnance,  on  the  resignation  of  Lord  Mulgrave. 


54  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Lord  Sidmouth  retired  from  the  home  department, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Peel.  Mr.  Wellesley 
Pole  gave  up  the  mastership  of  the  mint,  for  a  sit 
uation  nearer  the  person  of  the  king,  and  was 
created  Lord  Maryborough.  Mr.  C.  B.  Bathurst 
went  out  of  the  chancellorship  of  the  duchy  of 
Lancaster,  into  which  Mr.  Vansittart  passed ;  the 
latter  being  also  called  to  the  peerage,  under  the 
title  of  Lord  Bexley.  Mr.  Robinson,  afterwards 
Lord  Goderich,  was  appointed  to  Mr.  Vansittart's 
place.  Mr.  Canning  became  secretary  of  state  for 
foreign  affairs  on  the  death  of  Lord  Castlereagh, 
which  occurred  soon  after  the  latter  succeeded  to 
the  title  of  Marquis  of  Londonderry.  Mr.  C.  W. 
W.  Wynn  was  made  president  of  the  board  of 
control,  in  place  of  Mr.  Canning.  Mr.  Wallace, 
afterwards  Lord  Wallace,  became  master  of  the 
mint ;  and  Mr.  Huskisson,  appointed  president  of 
the  board  of  trade,  was  called  to  a  seat  in  the 
cabinet,  his  office  not  having  before  been  of  that 
dignity. 

None  of  the  new  appointments  were  understood 
to  have  grown  out  of  want  of  concord  in  the  body. 
The  policy,  as  the  premiership,  of  Lord  Liverpool, 
was  maintained.  He  was  placed  in  that  post  by 
the  Prince  Regent,  in  1812.  The  age  and  infir 
mities  of  the  reigning  monarch,  had  led  parliament, 


1813  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  55 

two  years  before,  to  establish  a  regency  in  the 
person  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  Regent  found, 
and  kept,  Mr.  Percival  at  the  head  of  affairs,  until 
he  perished  by  assassination.  It  was  then  that 
Lord  Liverpool  was  called  to  the  helm.  History 
will  view  his  administration  as  one  of  renown  to 
England.  In  the  exertions  of  Europe  against 
Napoleon  during  the  memorable  period  from 
1812  until  1815,  the  part  which  she  acted  by 
her  arms  and  pecuniary  resources,  is  before  the 
world.  Both  were  directed  by  this  ministry,  un 
til  the  achievement  at  Waterloo  closed  the  mo 
mentous  struggle.  It  was  there  that  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  after  numerous  victories  in  In 
dia,  in  Portugal,  in  Spain,  that  had  earned  the 
reiterated  thanks  of  parliament  and  applauses  of 
the  nation,  ascended  to  the  pinnacle  of  military 
glory.  One  of  the  English  ministers  on  entering 
the  House  of  Commons,  bearing  in  his  hands  the 
treaties  of  peace  which  the  triumphant  battles  of 
this  great  commander  had  done  so  much  towards 
securing,  was  enthusiastically  cheered  by  all  the 
members.  It  was  the  spontaneous  burst  of  public 
joy.  Party  differences  were  forgotten  in  deeds  so 
overpowering.  The  same  minister,  it  was  Lord 
Castlereagh,  afterwards  declared  in  one  of  his 
speeches,  that  the  "  British  empire  had  twice  die- 


56  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

fated  the  peace  of  Europe  in  the  capital  of  France" 
The  fame  of  such  deeds  naturally  established  in 
the  confidence  of  the  British  public,  the  ministry 
on  whose  banner  they  were  incribed. 

Lord  Liverpool  was  not  a  man  to  lose  confi 
dence  so  acquired.  Splendour  of  genius  was  not 
his  characteristic ;  but  among  his  talents,  was  that 
of  knowing  how  to  assemble  able  men  around  him. 
His  cabinet  already  strong,  was  enriched,  as  we 
have  seen,  with  the  names  of  Wellington,  and 
Peel,  and  Robinson,  and  Huskinson  ;  lastly  with 
that  of  Canning,  whom  he  brought  into  the  foreign 
office,  vacant  by  the  sudden  demise  of  a  powerful 
incumbent.  These,  though  differing  in  important 
points  among  each  other,  and  from  the  premier, 
remained  in  harmony  under  him  as  leader.  Each 
was  made  efficient  in  his  sphere,  and  the  power  of 
the  whole  augmented.  If  Lord  Liverpool  was  not 
the  ablest  man  of  the  body,  he  was  essentially  its 
head.  With  a  sound  judgment  improved  by  pub 
lic  affairs  upon  a  great  scale,  he  was  well  fitted  for 
the  business  of  a  nation.  What  he  did  not  take  in 
by  promptitude,  he  mastered  by  perseverance ;  not 
that  he  was  deficient  in  the  former,  but  that  he 
paused  upon  his  first  conclusions.  Systematic  and 
grave,  educated  in  maxims  which  he  conscientious 
ly  approved,  however  others  may  have  dissented 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  67 

from  them ;  courteous  yet  inflexible ;  with  a  per- 
onal  character  eminently  pure,  and  a  high  reputa 
tion  for  official  probity,  his  influence,  as  it  rested 
upon  practical  qualities,  went  on  to  increase ;  so 
that,  during  the  whole  term  of  my  residence  I  ne 
ver  heard,  and  do  not  believe,  that  a  change  of 
ministry  was  for  one  moment  seriously  in  contem 
plation.  Such  was  the  premier  whom  I  found  and 
left  in  power.  He  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of 
his  sovereign  ;  and  had  the  confidence  of  the  coun 
try  to  an  extent  that  made  him  sure  of  his  mea 
sures  in  both  houses  of  parliament.  Such,  too, 
was  the  entire  ministry  with  which  I  was  to  con 
duct  negotiations,  and  all  other  business  of  my 
mission. 

It  was  with  a  full  sense  of  responsibility  that 
I  entered  upon  its  duties.  I  was  sustained  by 
remembering  who  were  at  the  head  of  my  own 
government.  In  President  Munroe,  his  country 
recognized  a  patriot  and  sage.  Time  and  long 
service,  had  consecrated  his  virtues  and  ta 
lents.  A  chivalrous  officer  of  the  Revolution,  his 
youthful  blood  had  been  poured  out  on  the  plains 
of  Trenton.  To  the  careful  study  of  history  and 
government,  he  added  a  participation  in  the  busi 
ness  of  legislative  halls,  and  that  of  diplomacy,  at 
home  and  abroad,  always  carrying  a  heart  as  pure 


68  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

as  his  judgment  was  sagacious.  Perfectly  ac 
quainted  with  the  foreign  policy  of  the  United 
States,  as  with  their  domestic  concerns ;  elevated 
in  all  his  principles  ;  just,  magnanimous,  self-con 
trolled,  few  countries  ever  possessed  a  chief  mag 
istrate  better  qualified  to  administer  its  affairs  with 
wisdom,  or  more  exempt  from  passions  to  mislead. 
First  of  his  cabinet  as  regarded  every  thing 
foreign,  stood  Mr.  Secretary  Adams ;  a  states 
man  of  profound  and  universal  knowledge.  He 
had  received  the  best  education  that  Europe  and 
his  own  country  could  bestow,  and  from  early 
life  been  practised  in  public  affairs.  Minister  at 
several  of  the  courts  of  Europe,  favourable  op 
portunities  were  before  him  of  studying  their  po 
licy,  and  a  superior  capacity  enabled  him  to 
improve  his  opportunities.  Thus  gifted  and  train 
ed  as  a  statesman,  he  was  accomplished  as  a  scho 
lar,  fervent  as  a  patriot,  and  virtuous  as  a  man. 
For  the  remainder  of  the  cabinet  of  the  United 
States,  there  were,  Mr.  Secretary  CrawTford  of  the 
treasury  department,  Mr.  Secretary  Calhoun  of  the 
war  department,  Mr.  Secretary  Thompson  and 
afterwards  Mr.  Secretary  Southard  of  the  navy 
department,  with  Mr.  Attorney  General  Wirt; 
men  whose  abilities  gave  further  assurance  to 
those  in  the  foreign  service  of  the  country,  that  her 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  59 

interests  would  not  be  overlooked.  Such  were 
the  counsels  whence  my  instructions  were  to  flow. 
Of  this  cabinet  I  may  add,  that  two  of  its  mem 
bers  have  since  been  called  by  the  people  to  the 
high  posts  of  President  and  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States ;  Mr.  Secretary  Adams  to  the  for 
mer,  Mr.  Secretary  Calhoun  to  the  latter. 


70  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818, 


CHAPTER  V. 

London  east  of  Temple  Bar.     London  north  of  Oxford 
street. 

January  7.  WENT  through  Temple  Bar  into 
the  city,  in  contradistinction  to  the  west  end  of 
London,  always  called  town.  Passed  along  Fleet 
street,  Ludgate-hill,  St.  Paul's,  Cheapside,  the 
Poultry,  Cornhill,  and  other  streets  in  the  direction 
of  the  Tower.  Saw  the  Bank,  Royal  Exchange, 
Lord  Mayor's  house,  Guildhall,  India  house,  the 
Excise  buildings.  If  I  looked  with  any  feeling  of 
wonder  on  the  throngs  at  the  west-end,  more 
cause  is  there  for  it  here.  The  shops  stand,  side 
by  side,  for  entire  miles.  The  accumulation  of 
things,  is  amazing.  It  would  seem  impossible  that 
there  can  be  purchasers  for  them  all,  until  you 
consider  what  multitudes  there  are  to  buy  ;  then, 
you  are  disposed  to  ask  how  the  buyers  can  all  be 
supplied.  In  the  middle  of  the  streets,  coal  wag 
ons  and  others  as  large,  carts,  trucks,  vehicles  of 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  71 

every  sort  loaded  in  every  way,  are  passing.  They 
are  in  two  close  lines,  like  great  tides,  going  reverse 
ways,  and  reaching  farther  than  the  eye  can  see. 
The  horses  come  so  near  to  the  foot  pavement  which 
is  crowded  with  people,  that  their  hoofs,  and  the 
great  wheels  of  the  wagons,  are  only  a  few  inches 
from  the  people.  In  this  manner  the  whole  proces 
sion  is  in  movement  with  its  complicated  noise.  It 
confounds  the  senses  to  be  among  it  all.  You  would 
anticipate  constant  accidents ;  yet  they  seldom 
happen.  The  fear  of  the  law  preserves  order ; 
moreover  the  universal  sense  of  danger  if  order 
were  violated,  prevents  its  violation.  I  am  assured 
that  these  streets  present  the  same  appearance  ev 
ery  day  in  the  year,  except  Sundays,  when  solitude 
reigns  in  them.  I  must  notice  as  before  the  dress  of 
the  people.  A  large  proportion  were  of  the  working 
classes ;  yet  all  were  whole  in  their  clothing.  You 
could  hardly  see  exceptions.  All  looked  healthy;  the 
more  to  be  remarked  in  parts  of  the  city  where  they 
live  in  perpetual  crowds  by  day  and  sleep  in  confined 
places,  and  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  a  healthy 
climate  in  combination  with  cleanliness.  The  cus 
tom  house  and  black  forest  of  ships  below  London 
bridge,  I  saw  by  a  glimpse.  That  was  enough  to 
show,  that  the  Thames  was  choked  up  with  ves 
sels  and  boats  of  every  description,  much  after 


72  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [IS  18. 

the  manner  that  I  beheld  Cheapside  and  Fleet 
street  to  be  choked  with  vehicles  that  move  on 
land. 

I  went  into  two  shops.     One,  a  silver  smith's  ; 
that  of  Rundel  and  Bridge,  on  Ludgate  hill.    Out 
side  it  is  plain  ;  you  might  pass  by  without  noticing 
it;  but,  on  entering,  the  articles  of  silver  were 
„  piled  in  heaps,  even  on  the  floor.     Going  further 
into   the  building,   the  masses  increased.     In  a 
room  up  stairs,  there  was  part  of  a  dinner  service, 
in  course  of  manufacture.     The  cost  of  an  entire 
service,  varied  from  thirty  to  fifty  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  according  to  the  number  of  pieces,  and 
workmanship.     Sometimes  it  was  much  higher. 
A  candelabra  for  the  middle  of  a  table,  had  just 
been  finished  for  a  customer,  at  fifteen  hundred 
pounds.     A  dress  sword  for  another  customer  was 
shown.     The   cost  was   four   thousand   guineas. 
Other  specimens  of  luxury  might  be  mentioned,  in 
cluding  ambassador's  snuff  boxes,  set  with  a  profu 
sion  of  diamonds.  The  proprietors  were  extremely 
civil ;  for  I  gave  trouble  only  through  curiosity.  If 
you  purchase  but  a  pin  for  a  few  shillings,  they  re 
turn  thanks  ;  if  you  do  not  incline  to  take  it  away 
yourself,  they  readily  send  it  home,  no  matter  to 
how  remote  a  part  of  the  town.   The  other  shop 
was  Shepherd's,  for  cut  glass,  near  Charing  Cross. 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  73 

There  too  I  had  civility  from  the  proprietor.  In 
place  of  speaking  of  his  wares,  I  will  relate  what 
he  said  of  the  Emperor  Alexander.  His  imperial 
majesty  it  seems,  when  on  his  visit  to  England 
with  the  allied  sovereigns,  honoured  his  shop  with 
a  call.  Pleased  with  his  articles  beyond  any  of 
the  kind  he  had  seen  in  Europe,  he  gave  an  order 
for  a  magnificent  list  for  one  of  his  palaces.  The 
pieces  arrived  in  St.  Petersburgh.  Immediately 
a  ukase  issued,  prohibiting  the  future  importation 
of  cut-glass  into  Russia.  Whether  the  emperor 
most  desired  to  encourage  the  home  manufacture 
of  so  beautiful  aware,  or  enhance  the  gratification 
of  his  imperial  taste  by  keeping  it  exclusive,  were 
questions  that  I  had  no  right  to  propound . 

Of  all  the  sights,  the  one  in  the  middle  of  the 
streets,  bespoka  to  me  most  of  causes  and  effects. 
Being  afterwards  in  Paris,  I  saw  more  of  archi 
tectural  beauty,  at  first ;  more  of  brilliancy.  The 
Boulevards,  the  Palais  Royal,  the  Rue  Rivoli 
which  looked  into  the  Tuileries  through  golden 
tipped  palisades,  and  a  few  other  places,  were  not 
to  be  matched  by  any  thing  I  saw  in  London. 
But  their  compass  was  small,  and  soon  exhausted. 
The  space  between  Northumberland  house  and 
Bishopsgate,  disclosed  more  of  transportation, 

more  of  the  operations  that  proclaim  circulation 

10 


74  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  capital,  more  of  all  that  laid  at  the  roots  of 
commerce  at  home  and  throughout  the  world, 
more  of  all  that  went  to  the  prolific  sources  of 
riches  and  power,  than  I  was  able  to  discover  in 
going  about  Paris,  again  and  again,  in  every  direc 
tion.  I  am  aware  how  much  larger  London  is, 
than  Paris  ;  but  the  bustle  of  business  seemed  to 
abound  in  the  English  metropolis  in  a  proportion 
tenfold  greater  than  its  superior  size. 

January  19.  I  have  taken  a  house.  It  is 
situated  in  Marylebone  parish,  north  of  Oxford 
roac?,  as  I  hear  the  latter  called  by  some,  probably 
from  its  having  been  an  open  road  within  their 
recollection.  Now,  it  is  a  street,  fully  built  up, 
and  among  the  longest  and  widest  in  London. 
North  of  it,  lies  a  part  of  the  town  different  from 
any  I  have  hitherto  seen.  The  streets  are  generally 
regular,  but  with  some  handsome  deviations. 
All  are  of  good  width ;  some  a  hundred  feet  and 
more.  Many  of  them,  as  Harley  street,  Wimpole 
street,  Baker  street,  Devonshire-place,  Portland- 
place,  and  others,  present  long  ranges  of  houses 
so  built  as  to  give  them  a  metropolitan  aspect. 
Through  some  of  the  streets,  you  look,  as  through 
a  vista,  into  the  verdant  scenery  of  the  Regent's 
Park.  This  commences  almost  at  the  point  where 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  75 

the  buildings,  which  are  lofty,  end ;  so  that  you 
seem  to  step  at  once  into  the  country.  An  air  of 
gloom  hangs  over  these  streets,  from  the  dark  brick 
of  which  most  of  the  houses  are  built,  or  which 
coal  smoke  gives  them  ;  the  case  I  may  add  with 
nearly  every  part  of  London.  This  part  is  quite 
secluded,  if  so  I  may  speak  of  a  town  district  of 
more  than  a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  You 
hear  little  noise  beyond  the  rumble  of  equipages, 
beginning  at  two  o'clock,  abating  in  the  evening, 
and  returning  at  midnight.  Its  quietness  and  the 
number  of  ready-furnished  houses  to  be  hired  in 
it,  are  probably  the  inducements  for  its  being  much 
chosen  by  the  foreign  ambassadors  for  their  resi 
dence.  I  found  that  the  Russian,  Austrian  and 
French  ambassadors,  had  here  fixed  their  domicils. 
Every  house  has  its  area,  enclosed  with  iron  pali 
sades  topped  with  spikes.  The  front  door  steps 
are  all  of  brown  stone  with  iron  railings,  topped 
in  the  same  manner ;  so  that  the  eye  traced  in  all 
directions  long  lines  of  bristling  iron  work.  If  you 
add,  that  on  the  broad  pavements  of  flag  you  per 
haps  saw  nobody  before  noon,  unless  a  straggling 
servant  in  morning  livery,  or  a  butcher's  boy  with 
tray  in  hand  issuing  here  and  there  from  an  area, 
you  have  the  main  external  characteristics  of  this 
region  when  first  I  beheld  it.  There  is  another 


76  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

town  district  a  mile  or  two  east,  made  up  of  well 
built  streets  about  Russel  square  and  in  that  di 
rection,  that  had  an  appearance  somewhat  similar. 
It  contained  I  was  told  another  one  hundred  thou 
sand  inhabitants,  London  dissected  showing  these 
various  circles.  The  entire  metropolis,  says  Gibbon 
in  his  memoirs,  is  "  an  astonishing  and  perpetual 
spectacle  to  the  curious  eye;  each  taste,  each 
sense  may  be  gratified  by  the  variety  of  objects 
which  will  occur  in  the  long  circuit  of  a  morning 
walk." 

Of  the  part  I  have  been  describing  in  its  external 
aspect,  I  must  notice  the  complexion  within.  A 
great  number  of  the  houses  were  to  let,  and  I  went 
through  them.  From  the  basement  to  the  attics 
every  thing  had  an  air  of  comfort.  The  supply 
of  furniture  was  full,  and  more  or  less  costly, 
according  to  the  rent.  The  stair  cases  were  of 
white  stone.  The  windows  and  beds  in  servants' 
rooms,  had  curtains.  No  floor  or  passage  was 
without  carpeting.  In  many  instances,  libraries 
made  part  of  the  furniture — a  beautiful  part.  The 
rents  varied  from  four  hundred  to  a  thousand 
guineas  a  year.  In  some  of  the  squares  of  the 
west-end,  I  learned,  that  the  rent  of  a  furnished 
house  was  as  high  as  sixty  and  eighty  guineas  a 
week.  Houses  of  the  first  class  with  the  abundant 
and  sumptuous  furniture  to  suit,  are  not  to  be  hired 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  77 

at  all.     These,  belonging  to  the  nobility  or  other 
opulent  proprietors,  are  left  in  the  care  of  servants 
when  the  owners  are  away.     The  house  I  took 
was  in  Baker  street,  at  four  hundred  and  fifty 
guineas  a  year.     The  policy  of  my  government 
being  to  give  to  its  public  servants  small  salaries, 
the  latter  act  but  in  unison  with  this  policy  in 
having  their  establishments  small.     It  is  not  for 
those  honoured    by  being    selected  to   serve  the 
republic    abroad,  to    complain.     Nor,  with    the 
English,  do  I  believe,  that  the  consideration  at 
taching  to  foreign  ministers,  is  dependent   upon 
the  salaries  they  receive.     However  large  these 
may  be,  and  sometimes  are,  in  the  persons  of  the 
representatives  of  the  imperial  and  royal  govern 
ments  of  Europe,  they  are  still  so  much  below  the 
wealth  of  the  home  circles  in  London,  as  to  be  no 
distinction,  supposing  distinction  to  be  sought  on 
that  ground.      The    surpassing  incomes  in    the 
home  circles  and  habit  of  expenditure,  with  the 
ample  accommodations  by  which  the  many  who 
possess  them  live  surrounded,  incline  their  pos 
sessors  to  regard  such  official  strangers,  as  objects, 
rather  than  agents,  of  hospitality.      It  may  be 
otherwise  in  capitals  on  the  continent,  but  this  is 
the    general    relationship  which   the  diplomatic 
corps  holds  to  society  in  London ;  the  result  of  its 
own  state  of  manners  as  well  as  its  riches. 


78  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Dinner  at  Lord  Castlereagh's.      Members  of  the  diplomatic 
corps.     The  first  visit.     Dinner  at  Lord  Westmoreland's. 


January  20.  DINED  at  Lord  Castlereagh's. 
The  company  consisted  of  Lord  and  Lady  Cas- 
tlereagh,  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  Lord  Mel 
ville,  Lord  Mulgrave,  Mr.  Wellesley  Pole,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  Lord  Burghersh,  the  ambas 
sador  of  France  and  his  marchioness,  the  Austrian 
ambassador,  the  Portuguese  ambassador  and  his 
countess,  the  minister  plenipotentiary  from  Bava 
ria,  the  Marquis  Grimaldi  of  Sardinia,  and  a  few 
others.  Of  the  foregoing,  some  were  strangers, 
to  whom,  as  to  myself,  it  was  a  first  dinner. 

The  invitation  was  for  seven  o'clock.  Our 
names  were  announced  by  servants  in  the  hall, 
and  on  the  landings.  The  company  had  chiefly 
assembled  when  we  arrived.  All  were  in  full 
black,  under  the  court  mourning  for  the  Princess 
Charlotte.  I  am  wrong  —  one  lady  was  in  white 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  79 

satin,  a  singularity  that  would  have  been  painfully 
embarrassing,  but  that  her  union  of  ease  and  dig 
nity  enabled  her,  after  the  first  effusion,  to  turn 
her  misfortune  into  a  grace.  Salutations  were  in 
subdued  tones,  but  cordial,  and  the  hand  given. 
Introductions  took  place  at  convenient  moments. 
Before  eight,  dinner  was  announced.  The  dining 
room  was  on  the  floor  with  the  drawing  rooms. 
As  we  entered  it  through  a  door-way  surrounded 
by  a  hanging  curtain  that  drew  aside,  the  effect 
was  beautiful.  A  profusion  of  light  fell  upon  the 
cloth,  and  as  every  thing  else  was  of  silver,  the 
dishes  covered,  and  wines  hidden  in  ranges  of 
silver  coolers,  the  whole  had  an  aspect  of  pure 
white.  Lord  Castlereagh  sat  at  the  head.  On 
his  right,  was  the  lady  of  the  French  ambassador, 
with  whom  in  going  in  to  dinner,  he  had  led 
the  way.  Lady  Castlereagh  was  on  the  side, 
half  way  down.  On  her  left,  was  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  with  whom  she  came  in.  Between 
the  duke  and  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland  was  my 
wife,  who  came  in  upon  the  arm  of  the  latter. 
Opposite,  was  the  lady  of  the  Portuguese  ambas 
sador.  She  entered  with  the  French  ambassador, 
and  sat  next  to  him.  I  was  between  Lords  Mel 
ville  and  Mulgrave.  The  former  gratified  me  by 
the  manner  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  United 


gO  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

States ;  the  latter  by  what  he  said  of  President 
Monroe,  who  was  minister  in  England  when  he  was 
secretary  for  foreign  affairs.  He  had  ever  found 
him,  he  ^a'd,  conciliatory  in  business,  whilst  stead 
fast  in  his  duty.  Being  near  to  these  two  noble 
men  in  coming  in,  I  paused  to  give  place  to  them, 
having  understood  that  cabinet  ministers  preceded 
ministers  plenipotentiary  on  these  occasions ;  but 
they  declined  it,  and  I  went  first ;  Lord  Melville 
remarking,  "  We  are  at  home."  There  were 
twelve  servants ;  the  superior  ones  not  in  livery. 

The  general  topics  related  to  France,  and 
French  society.  The  foreigners  spoke  English; 
nevertheless,  the  conversation  was  nearly  all  in 
French.  This  was  not  only  the  case  when  the 
English  addressed  the  foreigners,  but  in  speaking 
to  each  other.  Before  dinner,  I  had  observed  in 
the  drawing  room,  books  on  the  tables.  As  many 
as  I  glanced  at,  were  French.  I  thought  of  the 
days  of  Charles  II.,  when  the  tastes  of  the  English 
all  ran  upon  the  models  of  France.  Here,  at  the 
house  of  an  English  minister  of  state,  French 
literature,  the  French  language,  French  topics, 
were  all  around  me ;  I  add,  French  entrees,  French 
wines  !  I  was  unwilling  to  believe  that  the  paral 
lel  to  the  days  of  Charles  II.  held  throughout.  By 
my  longer  residence  in  England  I  discovered,  that 


1818  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  gj 

the  enlightened  classes  were  more  ready  to  copy 
from  the  French  what  they  thought  good,  than  the 
same  classes  in  France,  to  copy  from  England. 
As  regards  language,  the  difference  is  striking. 
There  is  scarcely  a  well  educated  person  in  Eng 
land,  who  does  not  speak  French,  whilst  thousands 
among  the  best  educated  in  France,  are  ignorant 
of  English.  In  the  competition  between  these 
great  nations,  this  gives  England  an  advantage. 
It  is  no  answer,  that  French  is  the  language  of 
intercourse  in  Europe ;  the  Frenchman  may  re 
pose  upon  this,  for  not  acquiring  the  English ;  but 
it  cannot  take  from  Englishmen  the  advantage  of 
being  at  home  in  both  tongues.  Equally  have  the 
English  the  advantage  in  travel.  They  go  in  great 
numbers  to  France ;  while  few  of  the  French, 
comparatively  speaking,  visit  England. 

Soon  after  nine,  the  ladies  left  table.  Before 
ten,  the  gentlemen  followed.  The  company  broke 
into  knots,  or  loitered  through  the  drawing  rooms, 
whilst  coffee  was  handed.  In  one,  was  a  full  length 
likeness  of  the  Prince  Regent,  by  Lawrence ;  in  ano 
ther  the  celebrated  portrait  of  Charles  I.,  by  Van- 
dycke,  presenting  three  views  of  his  face ;  scattered 
about  in  all,  were  articles  of  vertu  or  munificence. 
Of  the  latter,  were  vases  of  massive  porcelain,  and 

other  memorials,  sent  as  presents  to  Lord  Castle- 

11 


g2  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

reagh  by  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  after  the 
treaties  of  Paris  and  Vienna.     I  had  now  conversa 
tion,  for  which  opportunities  had  not  before  offered. 
The  Austrian  ambassador  told  me,  that  his  court 
had  appointed  Baron  Sturmer  consul  general  to 
the  United  States.     He  said,  that  it  was  the  wish 
of  his  court  to  cultivate  amicable  relations  with 
the  United  States ;  the  more,  as  foreign  commerce 
had  become  an  object  with  Austria.     I  replied, 
that  my  government  would  receive  the  information 
with  satisfaction.     This  was  the  first  public  offi 
cer  sent  by  Austria  to  the  United  States,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  commercial  relations  that  had 
not  before  subsisted  between  the  two  nations.     I 
remarked,  that  the  commerce  of  Austria  appeared 
to  be  doing  well  in  the  Black  sea.     "  For  a  begin 
ning,"  he  replied.     I  added  a  hope,  that  the  flag  of 
the  United  States  might  find  admittance  into  that 
sea  ;  but  it  was  a  point  on  which  he  was  not  pre 
pared  to  speak.     To  Lord  Castlereagh,  I  express 
ed  the  pleasure  I  had  derived  from  making  the 
acquaintance  of  his  guests ;   amongst  them,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington's.     He  then  spoke  of  the  duke. 
He  said,  that  his  achievements  in  war  were  known ; 
but  that  his  ability  in  council,  his  caution,  his  con 
ciliation  in  dealing  with  the  complicated  arrange 
ments  of  the  continent  that  had  followed  his  bat- 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  33 

ties,  were  not  so  much  known ;  these  formed  not 
less  a  part  of  his  character,  and  had  gained  for 
him,  perhaps  in  a  higher  degree  than  centered  in 
any  other  individual  in  Europe,  the  confidence  of 
its  cabinets  and  sovereigns. 

Before  parting,  his  lordship  said,  that  the  Prince 
Regent  would  probably  be  in  town  by  the  middle 
of  February,  and  that  I  might  then  expect  my 
audience  of  reception. 

At  eleven,  I  came  away.  The  servants  were 
at  their  stations,  and  passed  the  call  for  my  carri 
age,  as  when  we  were  announced  ;  forms  observed 
towards  all  the  company. 

Having  here  met  for  the  first  time  some  of  the 
diplomatic  corps,  I  will  subjoin  the  names  of  all  who 
composed  it,  whilst  I  was  in  England.  There  was 
entire  cordiality  in  the  intercourse  of  its  members. 
The  period  was  one  of  peace,  and  no  acts  transpir 
ed  among  nations,  tending  to  abridge  the  harmony 
of  private  life  among  their  representatives. 

From  France  there  was  the  Marquis  D'Osmond, 
among  the  best  specimens  of  the  old  French  court. 
From  Russia,  Count,  afterwards  Prince  Lieven ; 
from  Austria,  Prince  Esterhazy;  from  Prussia, 
Baron  Humboldt,  brother  and  rival  in  genius  to 
the  celebrated  traveller ;  from  the  Netherlands,  Ba 
ron  Fagel,  a  name  well  known  in  his  country's  his- 


£4  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tory  ;  from  Spain,  the  Duke  of  San  Carlos  ;  from 
Portugal,  Count,  afterwards  Marquis  Palmella, 
maintaining  under  all  vicissitudes,  his  reputation 
for  abilities.  These  were  ambassadors.  The  chief 
difference  between  the  ambassador  and  minister 
plenipotentiary,  in  common  speech  often  confound 
ed,  is,  that  the  former  is  viewed  as  representing 
the  person  of  his  sovereign.  In  that  capacity,  he 
takes  precedence  in  matters  of  form,  and  has  also 
exaltation,  personally,  in  various  ways.  For  every 
national  end,  the  attributes  of  the  minister  pleni 
potentiary  are  the  same. 

France  changed  her  ambassador  four  times. 
She  sent,  after  the  departure  of  the  Marquis  D'Os- 
mond,  the  Marquis  de  la  Tour  Mauberg,  the  Duke 
D'Cazes,  Viscount  Chateaubriand,  and  Prince 
Polignac.  The  first,  was  the  celebrated  cavalry 
officer,  not  more  known  by  his  powers  as  a  com 
mander,  than  his  gallant  exploits  in  battle,  parti 
cularly  at  Liepsic  where  he  lost  a  leg.  His  manly 
form,  thus  maimed,  was  doubly  interesting,  by  the 
habitual  suavity  of  his  manners.  The  second,  was 
the  distinguished  minister  of  the  interior  under 
Louis  XVIII. ;  and  at  that  time  head  of  the  French 
administration.  The  third,  was  the  brilliant  au 
thor  of  France — and  admired  by  the  world; 
who  brings  at  all  times  to  his  page  the  most  elo- 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  $5 

quent  and  touching  reflections,  whether  writing 
from  the  deep  shades  of  American  forests,  from 
classic  Italy,  or  the  sacred  banks  of  the  Jordan ; 
who  gives  elevation  to  party  strife,  investing  with 
instructive  and  elegant  generalities,  what  in  feebler 
hands  degenerates  into  common  details  or  coarse 
personality.  The  fourth,  was  the  same  who  was 
afterwards  president  of  the  council  and  prime  min 
ister  under  Charles  X.  He  was  fatally  conspicu 
ous  in  the  revolution  of  July  1830;  but,  to  his 
personal  accomplishments  and  worth,  all  bore  tes 
timony.  The  Netherlands  changed  hers  once, 
sending,  in  place  of  Baron  Fagel,  called  to  the 
home  service,  Mr.  Falk;  whose  activity  in  the 
cause  of  Holland  has  been  witnessed  at  dates  more 
recent.  Prussia  sent  Baron  Werter  in  place  of 
Baron  Humboldt;  the  latter  also  called  to  the 
home  service.  Spain  substituted  the  Duke  de  Frias 
for  the  Duke  of  San  Carlos ;  and  afterwards  sent 
Mr.  Onis  (as  minister  plenipotentiary)  in  the  time 
of  the  constitutional  government  of  the  Cortes. 
From  Portugal,  Count  Villa  Real  succeeded  the 
Marquis  Palmella,  Mr.  Olivera  interposing  (as 
minister  plenipotentiary)  for  a  short  interval,  in 
the  time  of  the  constitutional  government  of  that 
country. 

The     ministers    plenipotentiary    were,    Count 


gg  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818, 

Munster  from  Hanover ;  Mr.  Bourke,  from  Den 
mark  ;  Baron  Stierneld,  from  Sweden ;  Baron 
Just,  from  Saxony ;  Mr.  Pfeffel,  from  Bavaria  ; 
Count  Ludolf,  from  Naples  ;  Count  D'Aglie,  from 
Sardinia.  The  only  change  in  this  order,  was 
from  Denmark,  in  the  person  of  Count  Moltke  for 
Mr.  Bourke.  The  former  was  accompanied  by 
his  countess — an  accession  to  the  English  as  to 
any  court.  Italy  had  her  season  of  constitutional 
governments,  as  Spain  and  Portugal ;  but  the 
Austrian  troops  overturned  them  too  rapidly  to 
afford  Sardinia  or  Naples  time  to  new-model  their 
diplomacy.  France  marched  her  army  across  the 
Bidassoa  more  slowly,  but  not  more  decisively. 
She  too  overturned  constitutional  government  in 
Spain ;  an  attack  upon  national  independence 
which  Britain,  in  her  state  papers  and  parliamen 
tary  speeches,  officially  disapproved  without  re 
sisting  ;  and  which  the  friends  of  freedom  in  both 
hemispheres  joined  in  deploring. 

There  were  two  ministers  resident,  an  order 
below  ministers  plenipotentiary — Baron  Langs- 
dorff  from  Baden,  and  Mr.  Haller  from  Switzer 
land.  There  was  a  charge  d'  affaires  from  Wir- 
tenburg,  Mr.  Wagner,  who  was  succeeded  by 
Count  Mandelsloh ;  and  one  from  Constantinople, 
Mr.  Ramadani.  The  latter  on  official  occasions 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  87 

appeared  in  his  robes,  turban  and  slippers ;  a  dress 
not  more  in  contrast  with  all  that  surrounded  him, 
than  the  institutions  of  his  country  with  those  of 
Christendom.  The  credentials  of  diplomatic 
agents  of  this  class,  are  to  the  secretary  of  state 
for  foreign  affairs,  not  the  sovereign.  When  Mr. 
Canning  filled  this  office,  plenipotentiaries  arrived 
and  were  afterwards  received  from  three  of  the 
new  states  of  Spanish  America  ;  Mr.  Hartado 
from  Columbia,  General  Michelena  from  Mexico, 
and  Mr.  Rividavia  from  Buenos  Ayres. 

The  embassies  of  the  great  powers  were  amply 
provided  with  secretaries,  and  had  persons  attached 
to  them  in  other  capacities.  The  entire  aggregate 
made  a  large  body.  Not  large,  however,  when  com 
pared  with  the  embassies  of  other  times.  Sully 
brought  to  England  a  retinue  of  two  hundred  gentle 
men.  Bassornpierre,  still  earlier,  speaks  of  an  "  equi 
page  of  four  hundred  per  sons"  returning  with  him  to 
France.  The  former  on  reaching  London  was 
saluted  with  three  thousand  guns  from  the  tower. 
So,  D'Estrades,  ambassador  to  the  states  general 
from  Louis  XIV,  tells  us  that  he  was  met  at  Rys- 
wick  by  the  deputies  with  a  train  of  three  score 
coaches.  Compliments  so  profuse  have  wisely 
gone  out  of  date. 

But,  in  all  affairs,  forms  prevail.     Governments 


§3  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

never  dispense  with  them.  Having  mentioned  the 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  I  will  allude  to 
some  of  the  forms  that  regulated  their  intercourse. 
Once,  the  uncertainty  of  these  led  to  difficulties ; 
even  wars.  The  congress  of  Vienna  in  1815  ex 
tirpated  them  all,  as  far  as  questions  of  precedence 
were  concerned ;  and  these  had  ever  been  found 
the  most  serious.  It  declared,  that  every  question 
of  that  nature  should  be  settled  by  the  rule  of  time. 
He  who  has  been  longest  at  a  court  or  government, 
is  to  be  first.  The  relative  power  of  the  nation 
he  represents,  is  to  count  nothing.  This  is  a  rule 
satisfactory  to  small  states,  and  it  is  to  the  praise  of 
large  ones,  that  they  established  it.  It  applies  to 
all  intercourse  where  competition  can  arise, 
whether  of  business  or  ceremony ;  and  therefore 
regulates  visits.  The  member  of  the  corps 
last  arriving,  pays  the  first.  The  rule  does  not 
overleap  classes,  applying  only  to  those  of  the 
same  class.  Its  propriety  has  commanded  univer 
sal  assent.  Under  its  operation,  we  shall  hear  no 
more  of  personal  rudeneses,  no  disturbances  of 
the  public  decorum,  no  cutting  of  traces  that  one 
ambassador's  coach  may  whip  up  before  another  ; 
none  of  the  acts,  ill-adapted  to  such  functionaries, 
of  which  we  catch  the  glimmerings,  sometimes  the 
details  in  works  of  diplomatic  literature — in  Finett, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  §9 

Digges,  Melville,  D'Estrades,  Wiquefort ;  even  in 
the  later  pages  of  Segur,  much  as  his  own  good 
sense  discountenanced  them.  The  treaty  of  West 
phalia  tried  to  put  a  stop  to  these  contentions  by  fix 
ing  the  relative  rank  of  the  principal  powers  of  Eu 
rope  ;  but  in  vain.  That  of  Utrecht  had  the  same  aim, 
in  introducing  the  title  of  minister  plenipotentiary, 
the  contentions  before,  being  confined  to  ambassa 
dors.  In  vain  also.  It  was  reserved  for  the  rule  of 
Vienna,  aided  by  modern  manners,  at  last  to  get  rid 
of  what  had  so  often  proved  a  hindrance  to  public 
business  and  injurious  to  individual  concord. 
Although  the  United  States  had  no  agency  in 
making  that  rule,  their  ministers  share  its  benefits. 

But,  as  far  as  visits  are  concerned,  it  has  turned 
out,  that  the  certainty  of  the  rule,  leads  to  its 
being  frequently  disregarded.  In  obedience  to  it, 
I  was  prepared  to  pay  the  first  visit  to  all  the 
members  of  the  corps  who  had  arrived  before  me. 
But,  from  several,  I  had  the  favour  of  calls  by  an 
ticipation,  as  was  common  in  other  cases.  Fortu 
nate  change  !  when  the  strife  of  courtesy  sup 
plants  hostile  strife. 

The  right  of  precedence  in  treaties,  is  of  a  dif 
ferent  nature.  These  solemn  instruments  are 
executed  in  double  original.  This  gives  to  each 

nation  the  opportunity  of  being  named  first,  and 

12 


90  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

signing  first,  in  the  treaty  to  be  deposited  in  its 
own  archives.  Such  is  the  rule  as  between  the 
United  States  and  foreign  powers.  Formerly  it 
was  not  so.  In  the  time  of  President  Madison, 
an  occasion  arising  where  the  representative  of  a 
monarchy  questioned  the  principle  of  coequality 
in  the  United  States,  on  the  asserted  ground  of 
republics  being  of  secondary  dignity,  the  rule  was 
established,  and  has  since  been  adhered  to. 

January  31.  Dined  at  the  Earl  of  Westmore 
land's,  at  his  residence,  Grosvenor  square.  Forms, 
were  as  at  Lord  Castlereagh's.  The  party  was 
small — Sir  John  and  Lady  Ann  Becket,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Patterson  of  Baltimore,  the  Danish  minister, 
and  some  members  of  Lord  Westmoreland's  family. 
The  cheerful  manner  of  his  lordship  promoted 
conversation.  Much  of  it  related  to  England. 
Duelling  was  spoken  of.  His  lordship  said,  that 
among  private  gentlemen  in  England,  it  was  very 
rare ;  that  if  a  person  from  this  class  had  been 
engaged  in  a  duel,  and  applied  for  admission  to  a 
club,  Composed  of  gentlemen,  there  would  be  a 
scrutiny  ;  and  unless  it  appeared  that  he  was  not 
quarrelsome,  he  would  be  in  danger  of  rejection ; 
but  that,  if  he  had  been  engaged  in  two,  he  believed 
he  would  certainly  be  black  balled.  His  lordship 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  gj 

did  not  condemn  duelling.  He  only  meant,  that  the 
occasions  of  it  in  private  life  were  so  few  in  classes 
where  the  restraints  of  good  manners  prevailed, 
that  he  whose  misfortune  it  was  to  have  had  two 
duels  on  his  hands,  would  find  gentlemen  shy  of  him 
as  an  associate  in  such  institutions.  It  was  upon 
this,  he  grounded  his  opinion.  His  lordship's  ur 
banity  made  the  evening  very  pleasant,  and  it  was 
not  until  a  late  hour  that  we  got  home. 


92  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ("1818. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Slave  question  under  the 
treaty  of  Ghent — North-western  boundary  between  the 
United  States  and  British  possessions — Post  at  the  mouth  of 
Columbia  river. 

February  1.  Had  an  interview  with  Lord  Cas 
tlereagh. 

He  began  about  the  slaves ;  expressing  the  rea 
diness  he  would  ever  feel  in  endeavouring  to  bring 
to  a  satisfactory  close  all  points  in  dispute  be 
tween  the  two  countries.  That  in  this  spirit  he 
had  laid  before  the  cabinet  my  proposal  of  the 
third  of  January  upon  this  subject ;  and  had  to 
inform  me  that  it  would  be  acceded  to.  But,  as 
the  treaty  of  Ghent  had  led  to  the  proposal, 
the  assent  would  be  under  the  rules  which 
that  treaty  had  fixed  in  relation  to  other  points. 
That  to  this  end,  he  was  prepared  to  give  ef 
fect,  substantially,  to  my  proposal,  by  saying, 
that  his  government  was  willing  that  the  question 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  93 

about  the  slaves  should  also  go  before  commis 
sioners  ;  and  in  the  event  of  their  not  concurring, 
that  resort  should  be  had  to  an  umpire,  as  pre 
scribed  by  the  fourth  and  subsequent  articles  of 
the  treaty  in  reference  to  territorial  claims.  That 
an  article  between  the  two  governments,  supple 
mental  to  the  treaty,  might  be  requisite  to  give  the 
proper  authority  for  this  proceeding.  That  as 
regarded  the  commissioners,  his  government  had 
no  objection  to  devolving  the  service  upon  some 
of  those  already  appointed  under  the  treaty,  unless 
mine  should  wish  new  appointments ;  that,  in 
short,  the  whole  machinery  of  that  instrument 
should  be  adopted  in  settling  the  conflict  of  opinion 
about  the  slaves. 

Finishing  upon  this  point,  he  went  to  another. 
The  present  he  said  appeared  to  be  a  favourable 
time  for  putting  in  train  for  settlement,  claims  to 
territory,  other  than  those  comprehended  in  the 
treaty  of  Ghent.  That  it  belonged  to  a  proper 
forecast,  to  aim  at  extinguishing  in  a  friendly  way 
seeds  of  future  controversy,  while  the  subjects 
were  of  no  great  present  importance,  but  liable 
to  become  so  in  future.  That  such  considerations 
led  him  to  hope,  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  would  not  be  disinclined  to  measures  hav 
ing  in  view  the  final  settlement  of  that  part  of  the 


94  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

north-western  boundary  line  contemplated  in  the 
old  treaty  between  the  two  countries  of  1783  ;  he 
meant,  the  line  from  the  most  north-western  point 
of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  to  the  Mississippi.  Ac 
cordingly  he  had  to  say,  that  the  adoption  of  mea 
sures  for  accomplishing  this  object,  would  be  highly 
acceptable  to  the  British  government.  The  treaty 
of  Ghent,  he  thought,  would  form  a  guide  equally 
convenient  for  fulfilling  the  intentions  of  the  par 
ties  in  this  instance  also.  Should  his  proposal  be 
acquiesced  in,  another  supplemental  article  might 
be  added  to  the  treaty,  to  give  it  effect,  and  new 
commissioners  be  appointed ;  or,  as  before  sug 
gested,  those  already  appointed,  perform  the  duty. 
Lastly,  he  came  to  the  affair  of  the  post  at 
Columbia  river.  A  despatch  from  Mr.  Bagot,  he 
said,  had  informed  the  British  government  that  the 
United  States  were  about  to  take  possession  of 
that  post,  by  sending  out  an  armed  ship  ;  and  he 
had  to  express  the  regret  felt  at  this  measure.  It 
was  to  have  been  wished,  he  remarked,  that  before 
the  ship  sailed,  notice  had  been  given  to  his  ma 
jesty's  minister  in  Washington  of  her  destination, 
Great  Britain  having  a  claim  of  dominion  over 
that  territory.  He  proceeded  to  inform  me,  that 
Mr.  Bagot  had  sent  in  a  remonstrance  upon  the 
occasion  ;  to  which,  at  the  last  dates,  no  answer 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  95 

had  been  received.  He  closed  by  saying,  that  it 
was  the  desire  of  his  government  to  submit  a  pro 
posal  that  the  question  of  title  to  this  territory, 
should,  as  in  the  two  other  cases,  go  before  com 
missioners,  and  be  governed  as  in  all  other  re 
spects  by  the  precedent  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent ; 
annexing  to  it  a  third  supplemental  article  as  the 
groundwork  of  contingent  arbitration  before  some 
friendly  sovereign. 

To  his  proposals  and  remarks,  I  made  such  re 
plies  as  they  seemed  to  call  for ;  and  first  as  to 
the  post  on  the  Columbia.  Nothing,  I  told  him, 
could  exceed  the  concern  I  felt  at  our  act  being 
viewed  in  the  light  presented  by  him,  and  nothing 
could  have  been  less  expected.  The  grounds  upon 
which  England  claimed  dominion,  were  unknown 
to  me ;  but  granting  that  she  had  a  claim,  was 
the  lawfulness  of  the  step  taken  by  the  United 
States,  to  be  questioned  ?  That  the  post  was  in 
their  possession  before  the  war  of  1812,  was  ad 
mitted  ;  and  also,  that  it  had  fallen  by  capture  into 
the  hands  of  Britain  during  the  war.  How  then, 
under  a  treaty  of  peace,  the  first  article  of  which 
stipulated  the  mutual  restitution  of  all  places  re 
duced  by  the  arms  of  either  party,  was  our  right 
to  restitution  to  be  impeached  ?  I  mentioned  the 
cases  of  Nootka  Sound,  and  Falkland  islands.  In 


96  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

both  these,  Great  Britain,  under  circumstances  far 
less  strong,  had  asserted  the  principle  of  which 
we  now  claimed  the  benefit. 

His  lordship  admitted  our  right  to  restitution, 
and  to  be  the  party  in  possession,  when  negotia 
tions  for  the  title  were  going  on.  But  the  manner 
of  obtaining  it,  he  said,  was  to  be  lamented,  from 
its  possible  tendency  to  interrupt  the  harmony 
subsisting  between  the  two  countries.  He  sin 
cerely  hoped  it  would  not  have  that  effect,  and 
added,  that  to  forestall  all  risk  by  precautions  with 
in  his  power,  he  had  addressed  a  note  to  the  lords 
of  the  admiralty,  and  one  to  lord  Bathhurst  as 
charged  with  colonial  affairs,  desiring  that  prompt 
orders  might  be  issued  for  preventing  all  hostile 
collision,  either  at  the  post,  or  with  British  ships 
in  its  vicinity.  He  took  from  his  files,  copies  of 
these  notes  and  read  them  to  me. 

I  said  that  although  it  was  scarcely  to  be  ex 
pected  that  I  could  yet  have  received  official 
information  respecting  the  measure,  and  although, 
in  fact,  none  had  reached  me,  I  was  entirely  con 
fident  that  it  had  originated  in  no  unfriendly 
feeling.  Nor  was  it  believed  that  any  thing  es 
sentially  due  to  Great  Britain,  had  been  omitted. 
It  had  so  happened,  I  remarked,  that  I  had  some 
knowledge  myself,  of  the  intentions  of  my  govern- 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  97 

ment  at  the  time  the  measure  was  projected,  which 
enabled  me  with  the  less  scruple  to  speak  as  I 
did.  I  left  Washington,  it  was  true,  before  the 
departure  of  the  ship ;  but  felt  sure,  that  there 
could  have  been  no  alteration  in  the  amicable 
views  that  had  suggested  her  voyage  to  those 
seas ;  and,  above  all,  I  knew,  that  the  employment 
of  force  as  a  means  of  reinstating  ourselves  under 
the  treaty  had  in  nowise  been  in  contemplation. 

These  assurances  appeared  to  have  the  proper 
influence  in  placing  the  transaction  in  its  true 
lights.  The  post  came  peaceably  into  our  posses 
sion,  and  the  case  was  not  subsequently  revived  as 
one  of  complaint. 

As  regarded  the  north-western  boundary  line, 
I  remarked,  that  this  subject  had  no  place  in  my 
instructions.  An  article  to  the  effect  of  his  pro 
posal,  had  once  been  inserted  in  a  convention  be 
tween  the  two  governments,  but  expunged  by  that 
of  the  United  States.  The  ground  of  objection 
was,  that  the  only  line  that  could  be  run  in  the 
direction  proposed  under  the  treaty  of  1783,  would 
not,  as  had  been  ascertained  since  the  date  of  the 
treaty,  strike  the  Mississippi;  and  to  run  it  lower 
down,  would  bring  it  through  territory  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States.  Great  Britain  was 

free  to  renew  the  proposal ;  all  that  I  could  do, 

13 


98  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

would  be  to  transmit  it  to  my  government,  and  it 
would  be  for  his  lordship  to  judge  how  far  the  past 
rejection,  with  the  unchanged  ground  of  it,  was 
discouraging  to  another  attempt. 

Finally,  as  to  the  slaves.  I  said,  that  I  had  no 
authority  to  assent  to  the  proposal  as  modified 
from  that  of  my  predecessor,  which  I  had  done 
nothing  more  than  renew.  That  much  anxiety 
continued  to  exist  on  this  subject  in  the  United 
States,  as  might  be  inferred  from  the  late  resolu 
tion  in  the  Senate,  submitted  by  Mr.  Troup,  of 
Georgia ;  and  that  the  fact  of  each  government 
having  adhered  to  its  own  construction  of  the 
treaty  on  this  point,  afforded  little  presage  of  a  con 
currence  in  opinion  by  commissioners  to  be  chosen 
by  each.  Still,  I  had  every  reason  to  think  that 
the  President  would  view  as  friendly,  the  principle 
of  the  proposal ;  for  whilst  it  did  hold  out  a  pre 
liminary  step  of  no  very  probable  efficacy,  it  came 
at  last  to  our  own  overture.  I  would  gladly  there 
fore,  transmit  it  for  his  consideration,  assuming, 
as  I  did,  that  this  subject  of  compensation  for 
slaves  would  be  acted  upon  by  itself,  in  the  event 
of  obstacles  being  found  to  lie  in  the  way  of  the 
two  others. 

To  this  his  lordship  did  not  yield  his  assent. 
He  hoped  that  I  presupposed  an  imaginary  case, 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  99 

abstaining  in  this  way  from  a  positive  refusal  at 
first.  He  afterwards,  in  effect,  embodied  one  in 
the  remark,  that  as  each  government  had  objects 
of  its  own  in  view,  the  three  propositions  ought  in 
his  opinion  to  be  classed  together,  awaiting  a  com 
mon  assent  or  rejection.  I  combatted  this  doc 
trine.  The  carrying  off  of  the  slaves,  involved  a 
case  of  palpable  injury,  and,  as  we  also  contended, 
of  wrong  ;  one  that  brought  loss  to  all,  and  ruin  to 
some,  of  the  proprietors.  The  fundamental  laws 
of  the  union  guaranteed  to  our  southern  planters 
as  sure  a  property  in  their  slaves,  as  in  their 
houses  and  lands ;  and  as  well  might  the  two  last 
be  taken  from  them  as  the  first.  The  two  other 
propositions  rested  upon  ancient,  undefined,  claims ; 
not  pressing  in  their  nature,  or  any  of  their  con 
sequences.  The  case  of  the  slaves,  moreover, 
sprung  out  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  was  pecu 
liarly  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  its  equitable  exam 
ple  in  settling  controversies.  The  other  two 
subjects  were  wholly  extrinsic.  Whatever  rights 
or  expectations  might  even  justly  be  coupled  with 
them  by  Great  Britain,  it  seemed  proper  that  they 
should  stand  upon  independent  ground.  It  was  so 
that  I  drew  distinctions. 

But  I  perceived  no  change  in  what  were  at  least 
his  lordship's   first   impressions,  that    the   three 


100  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

questions  ought  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  same  way. 
The  interview  was  extended  to  much  length,  and 
closed  by  his  saying,  that  as  all  the  proposals 
proceeded  from  his  government,  they  would  be 
forwarded  to  Mr.  Bagot  for  the  information  of 
mine,  in  addition  to  the  communication  of  them 
made  to  me. 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  101 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Reception  by  the  Prince   Regent.     The  Levee.     Royal 
Family. 

February  9.  RECEIVED  a  note  from  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh,  informing  me  that  the  Prince  Regent  had 
appointed  Thursday  the  twelfth,  for  my  reception, 
at  Carlton  House,  at  a  quarter  past  two,  previous 
to  the  levee. 

February  12.  Had  my  reception.  A  compe 
tent  knowledge  of  the  world  may  serve  to  guide 
any  one  in  the  common  walks  of  life,  wherever  he 
may  be  thrown  ;  more  especially  if  he  carry  with 
him  the  cardinal  maxim  of  good  breeding  every 
where,  a  wish  to  please,  and  unwillingness  to 
offend.  But  if,  even  in  private  society,  there  are 
rules  not  to  be  known  but  by  experience,  and  if 
these  differ  in  different  places,  I  could  not  feel  insen 
sible  to  the  approach  of  an  occasion  so  new  to  me. 
My  first  desire  was,  not  to  fail  in  the  public  duties 


102  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  my  mission;  the  next,  to  pass  properly  through 
the  scenes  of  official  and  personal  ceremony,  to 
which  it  exposed  me.  At  the  head  of  them,  was 
my  introduction  to  the  sovereign.  I  desired  to  do 
all  that  full  respect  required,  but  not  more :  yet — 
the  external  observances  of  it — what  were  they  ? 
They  defy  exact  definition  beforehand,  and  I  had 
never  seen  them.  From  the  restraints,  too,  that 
prevail  in  these  spheres,  lapses,  if  you  fall  into 
them,  are  little  apt  to  be  told  to  you ;  which  in 
creases  your  solicitude  to  avoid  them.  I  had,  in 
some  of  my  intercourse,  caught  the  impression, 
that  simplicity  was  considered  best  adapted  to  such 
an  introduction ;  also,  that  the  Prince  Regent  was 
not  thought  to  be  fond  of  set  speeches.  This  was 
all  that  I  could  collect.  But  simplicity,  all  know, 
is  a  relative  idea.  Often  it  is  attainable,  in  the 
right  sense,  only  through  the  highest  art,  and  on 
full  experience. 

I  arrived  before  the  hour  appointed.  My  car 
riage  having  the  entre,  or  right  to  the  private  en 
trance,  I  went  through  St.  James's  Park,  and  got 
to  Carlton  House  by  the  paved  way,  through  the 
gardens.  Even  this  approach,  was  already  filled. 
I  was  set  down  at  a  side  door,  where  stood  ser 
vants  in  the  Prince's  livery.  Gaining  the  hall, 
persons  were  seen  in  various  costumes.  Among 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  103 

them  were  yeomen  of  the  guard  with  halberts  in 
their  hands ;  they  had  velvet  hats  with  wreaths 
round  them,  and  rosettes  in  their  shoes.  From 
the  court  yard,  which  opened  through  the  columns 
of  a  fine  portico,  bands  of  music  were  heard.  Car 
riages,  as  in  a  stream,  were  approaching  by  this 
access  through  the  double  gates  that  separated 
the  royal  residence  from  the  street.  The  com 
pany  arriving  by  this  access,  entered  through  the 
portico,  and  turned  off  to  the  right.  I  went  to  the 
left,  through  a  vestibule,  leading  to  other  rooms, 
into  which  none  went  but  those  having  the  entre. 
These  consisted  of  cabinet  ministers,  the  diploma 
tic  corps,  persons  in  chief  employment  about  the 
court,  and  a  few  others,  the  privilege  being  in  high 
esteem.  Knights  of  the  Garter  appeared  to  have 
it,  for  I  observed  their  insignium  round  the  knee 
of  several.  There  was  the  lord  steward  with  his 
badge  of  office ;  the  lord  chamberlain  with  his ; 
gold  stick,  and  silver  stick.  The  foreign  ambas 
sadors  and  ministers,  wore  their  national  cos 
tumes  ;  the  cabinet  ministers,  such  as  we  see  in 
old  portraits,  with  bag  and  sword;  the  lord 
chancellor,  and  other  functionaries  of  the  law, 
had  black  silk  gowns,  with  full  wigs ;  the 
bishops  and  dignitaries  of  the  church,  had  aprons 
of  black  silk.  The  walls  were  covered  with  paint- 


104  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  f!818 

ings.  If  these  were  historical,  so  were  the  rooms. 
As  I  looked  through  them,  I  thought  of  the  scenes 
described  by  Doddington  ;  of  the  Pelhams,  the  Bo- 
lingbrokes,  the  Hillsboroughs ;  of  the  anecdotes 
and  personalities  of  the  English  court  and  cabinet 
in  those  days.  The  Prince  had  not  yet  left  his 
apartment.  Half  an  hour  went  by,  when  Sir 
Robert  Chester,  master  of  ceremonies,  said  to  me, 
that  in  a  few  minutes  he  would  conduct  me  to  the 
Prince.  The  Spanish  ambassador  had  gone  in, 
and  I  was  next  in  turn.  When  he  came  out,  the 
master  of  ceremonies  advanced  with  me  to  the  door. 
Opening  it,  he  left  me.  I  entered  alone.  The 
Prince  was  standing,  with  Lord  Castlereagh  by  him. 
No  one  else  was  in  the  room.  Holding  in  my 
hand  the  letter  of  credence,  I  approached,  as  to  a 
private  gentleman,  and  said,  in  the  common  tone  of 
conversation,  that  it  was,  "  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES,  APPOINTING  ME  THEIR  ENVOY 

EXTRAORDINARY  AND  MINISTER  PLENIPOTENTIARY  AT 
THE  COURT  OF  HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  ',  AND  THAT  I  HAD 
BEEN  DIRECTED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  SAY,  THAT  I 
COULD  IN  NO  WAY  BETTER  SERVE  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
OR  GAIN  HIS  APPROBATION,  THAN  BY  USING  ALL  MY 
ENDEAVOURS  TO  STRENGTHEN  AND  PROLONG  THE  GOOD 
UNDERSTANDING  THAT  HAPPILY  SUBSISTED  BETWEEN 

THE  TWO  COUNTRIES."    The  Prince  took  the  letter 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  105 

and  handed  it  to  Lord  Castlereagh.  He  then  said, 
that  he  would  "  EVER  BE  READY  ON  HIS  PART  TO  ACT 

UPON  THE  SENTIMENTS  I  HAD  EXPRESSED  I  THAT  I 
MIGHT  ASSURE  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THIS,  FOR  THAT  HE 
SINCERELY  DESIRED  TO  KEEP  UP  AND  IMPROVE  THE 
FRIENDLY  RELATIONS  SUBSISTING  BETWEEN  THE  TWO 
NATIONS,  WHICH  HE  REGARDED  AS  SO  MUCH  TO  THE 

ADVANTAGE  OF  BOTH."  I  replied,  that  I  would  not 
fail  to  do  so. 

The  purpose  of  the  interview  seeming  to  be  ac 
complished,  I  had  supposed  it  would  here  end,  and 
was  about  to  withdraw  ;  but  the  Prince  prolonged 
it.  He  congratulated  me  on  my  arrival.  He  in 
quired  for  the  health  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  spoke  of 
others  who  had  preceded  me  in  the  mission,  going 
back  as  far  as  the  first  Mr.  Pinckney.  Of  him, 
arid  Mr.  King,  his  inquiries  were  minute.  He 
made  others,  which  it  gave  me  still  more  pleasure 
to  answer.  He  asked  if  I  knew  the  ladies  from 
my  country,  then  in  England,  who  had  made  such 
favourable  impressions  in  their  society,  naming 
Mrs.  Patterson,  since  Marchioness  of  Wellesley, 
and  her  sisters,  the  Miss  Catons  of  Maryland.  I 
replied  that  I  did,  and  responded  to  his  gratifying 
notice  of  these  my  fair  countrywomen.  A  few 
more  remarks  on  the  climate  of  the  two  countries, 

closed  the  audience. 

14 


106  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  in  me  to  portray  the 
exterior  qualities  of  this  monarch.  The  com 
manding  union  of  them  has  often  been  a  theme  in 
his  own  dominions.  He  was  then  in  his  fifty-sixth 
year ;  but  in  fine  health,  and  maintaining  the  erect, 
ambitious  carriage  of  early  life.  I  will  only  say, 
that  he  made  his  audience  of  foreign  ministers  a 
pleasurable  duty  to  them,  instead  of  a  repulsive 
ceremony.  The  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  from  Sicily  and  Naples,  Count  Lu- 
dolf,  had  his  reception  immediately  after  mine. 

When  the  Prince  came  from  his  apartment, 
called  in  the  language  of  palaces  his  closet,  into 
the  entre  rooms,  I  presented  to  him  Mr.  John 
Adams  Smith,  as  public  secretary  of  the  legation, 
and  Mr.  Ogle  Tayloe,  as  attached  to  it  personally. 
Other  special  presentations  took  place ;  amongst 
them,  that  of  the  Prince  of  Hesse  Homberg,  by 
Lord  Stewart,  both  distinguished  in  the  then  re 
cent  battles  of  the  continent.  The  Prince  Regent 
moved  about  these  rooms,  until  he  had  addressed 
every  body ;  all  waiting  his  salutation.  Doors 
hitherto  shut,  now  opened,  when  a  new  scene  ap 
peared.  You  beheld,  in  a  gorgeous  mass,  the  com 
pany  that  had  turned  off  "to  the  right.  The  open 
ing  of  the  doors  was  the  signal  for  the  commence 
ment  of  the  general  levee.  I  remained  with  others 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  JQ7 

to  see  it.  All  passed,  one  by  one,  before  the  Prince, 
each  receiving  a  momentary  salutation.  To  a  few 
he  addressed  conversation,  but  briefly ;  as  it  stop 
ped  the  line.  All  were  in  rich  costume.  Men  of 
genius  and  science  were  there  ;  the  nobility  were 
numerous;  so  were  the  military.  There  were 
from  forty  to  fifty  generals ;  perhaps  as  many  ad 
mirals,  with  throngs  of  officers  of  rank  inferior. 
I  remarked  upon  the  number  of  wounded.  Who 
is  that,  I  asked,  pallid  but  with  a  countenance  so 
animated  ?  "  That's  General  Walker,"  I  was  told, 
"  who  was  pierced  with  bayonets,  whilst  leading  on 
the  assault  at  Badajos  ;"  and  he,  close  by,  tall  but 
limping  ?  "  Colonel  Ponsonby  ;  he  was  left  for  dead 
at  Waterloo  ;  the  cavalry  it  was  thought  had  tram 
pled  upon  him."  Then  came  one  of  like  port,  but 
deprived  of  a  leg.  As  he  moved  slowly  onward, 
the  whisper  went,  "  That's  Lord  Anglesea."  A 
fourth  had  been  wounded  at  Seringapatam  ;  a  fifth 
at  Talevera ;  some  had  suffered  in  Egypt ;  some 
in  America.  There  were  those  who  had  received 
scars  on  the  deck  with  Nelson ;  others  who  car 
ried  them  from  the  days  of  Howe.  One,  yes  one, 
had  fought  at  Saratoga.  It  was  so  that  my  inqui 
ries  were  answered.  All  had  "  done  their  duty  ;" 
this  was  the  favourite  praise  bestowed.  They  had 
earned  a  title  to  come  before  their  sovereign,  and 


108  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

read  in  his  recognition  their  country's  approbation. 
The  great  number  of  wounded,  was  accounted  for 
by  recollecting,  that  little  more  than  two  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  armies  and  fleets  of  Britain 
had  been  liberated  from  wars  of  extraordinary 
fierceness  and  duration  in  all  parts  of  the  globe. 
For,  so  it  is,  other  nations  chiefly  fight  on  or  near 
their  own  territory  ;  the  English  every  where. 

Taking  the  whole  line,  perhaps  a  thousand  must 
have  passed.  Its  current  flowed  through  the  entre 
rooms,  got  onward  to  the  vestibule,  and  was  finally 
dispersed  in  the  great  hall,  where  it  stood  in  glit 
tering  groups  and  fragments.  Those  who  com 
posed  them,  found  themselves  there,  by  a  course 
reverse  to  that  of  their  entrance,  and  went  away 
through  the  grand  portico,  as  their  carriages  came 
up. 

The  whole  ceremony  lasted  until  past  five. 
When  it  was  over,  I  called  upon  each  member  of  the 
royal  family;  a  mark  of  respect  omitted  by  no 
foreign  minister  after  being  received  by  the  sove 
reign.  The  call  is  made  by  inscribing  your  name 
in  books  kept  at  their  several  residences.  The 
royal  family  were — of  the  male  branches, — the 
Duke  of  York,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  (now  Wil 
liam  IV.),  the  Duke  of  Kent,  the  Duke  of  Cum 
berland,  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  the  Duke  of  Cam- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  109 

bridge,  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  Of  the  female 
branches — the  Dutchess  of  Gloucester,  the  Princess 
Augusta,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  the  Princess 
Sophia,  and  Princess  Sophia  Matilda.  Prince 
Leopold,  (present  king  of  Belgium,)  husband  of 
the  late  Princess  Charlotte,  shared  the  same  atten 
tions  ;  as  did  the  dutchesses  of  York  and  Cum 
berland.  How  far  it  may  be  necessary  for  a 
distant  republic,  whose  genius  is  entirely  different 
from  the  ancient  governments  of  Europe,  to  ex 
change  with  the  latter,  diplomatic  representatives 
of  the  higher  class,  may  be  a  question ;  but  it  can 
be  none  whether,  when  once  sent,  they  shall  offer 
all  the  appropriate  marks  of  respect  which  the 
usages  of  the  world  accord  to  sovereigns  and  those 
in  immediate  connexion  with  them.  To  withhold 
or  stint  them,  would  be  in  conflict  with  the  pur 
poses  of  the  diplomatic  office.  It  was  in  this  feel 
ing  that,  during  my  residence,  I  thought  it  proper 
never  to  be  absent  from  a  levee,  or  pretermit  in 
anywise  attentions  to  the  royal  family  paid  by 
other  foreign  ministers ;  and  I  will  take  occasion 
to  add,  that  I  did  not  find  an  insensibility  to  the 
just  motives  of  such  a  course. 

It  will  be  in  unison  with  my  narrative  to  insert 
a  copy  of  the  letter  of  credence  I  delivered  to  the 
Prince  Regent.  It  followed  the  established  for- 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

mulary,  when  the  United  States  send  ministers  to 
foreign  courts.  An  eminent  individual  in  England 
once  asked  me  what  the  form  was,  from  republics 
to  monarchies.  The  answer  is  easy.  The  head 
of  a  republic,  however  appointed  or  chosen,  rep 
resents,  for  the  time  being,  its  collective  power 
and  dignity.  To  foreign  nations,  he  is  the  visible 
image  of  its  sovereignty  and  speaks  to  monarchs, 
clothed  with  its  attributes.  The  letter  will  afford 
at  the  same  time  a  specimen  of  the  peculiar  style 
adopted  by  nations  when  speaking  to  each  other 
through  the  personality  centring  in  their  executive 
heads.  It  is  in  these  words :  "  JAMES  MONROE, 
"  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
"  TO  HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  THE  PRINCE  REGENT  OF 
"  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND 
"  IRELAND  :  GREAT  AND  GOOD  FRIEND  :  I  have  made 
"  choice  of  Richard  Rush,  to  reside  near  your  Royal 
"  Highness  in  quality  of  envoy  extraordinary  and 
"  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of 
"  America.  He  is  well  informed  of  the  relative  in- 
"  terests  of  the  two  countries,  and  of  our  sincere 
"  desire  to  cultivate  and  strengthen  the  friendship 
"  and  good  correspondence  between  us  ;  and  from  a 
"  knowledge  of  his  fidelity,  probity,  and  good  con- 
"  duct,  I  have  entire  confidence  that  lie  will  render 
"  himself  acceptable  to  your  Royal  Highness  by  his 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  1 1 1 

"  constant  endeavours  to  preserve  and  advance  the 
"  interests  and  happiness  of  both  nations.  I  there- 
"fore  request  your  Royal  Highness  to  receive  him 
"favourably,  and  to  give  full  credence  to  whatever 
"  he  shall  say  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
"  most  of  all  when  he  shall  assure  you  of  their  friend- 
"  ship,  and  wishes  for  your  prosperity  ;  and  I  pray 
"  God  to  have  your  Royal  Highness  in  his  safe  and 
"  holy  keeping.  Written  at  the  city  of  Washington 
"  the  thirty  first  day  of  October  Anno  Domini,  one 
"  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen.  BY  YOUR 
"  GOOD  FRIEND  JAMES  MONROE.  John  Quincy 
"  Adams,  Secretary  of  State" 

The  letter  of  credence  from  the  King,  or  Prince 
Regent,  of  England,  on  sending  a  minister  pleni 
potentiary  to  the  United  States,  is  the  same  mu 
tatis  mutandis,  in  its  formal  commencement  and 
conclusion ;  and  substantially  the  same  through 
out. 

My  reception  having  established  me  in  full  offi 
cial  standing,  with  the  British  court,  I  left  cards  at 
the  houses  of  the  cabinet  ministers  and  diplomatic 
corps.  The  former  have  precedence,  over  the 
latter  (though  in  England  they  often  wave  it,) 
because,  sharing  the  confidence  and  administering 
the  power  of  the  sovereign,  they  become  identified, 
so  far,  with  his  dignity.  I  visited  also  the  lord 


H2  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

high  steward,  lord  Chamberlain,  the  master  of  the 
horse,  and  a  few  others,  personally  attached  to  the 
royal  household.  The  only  one  of  the  cabinet 
upon  whom  I  had  called  previously,  was  lord 
Castlereagh.  Cabinet  ministers  in  England  are 

O  o 

exempt,  owing  to  their  constant  engagements,  from 
returning  visits  to  foreign  ministers,  as  to  all  others, 
— a  rule  of  obvious  good  sense  and  propriety ; 
nevertheless,  the  courtesy  of  lord  Castlereagh  had 
spontaneously  returned  mine,  which  I  took  as  a 
mark  of  respect  to  my  country. 

It  was  so  that  I  aimed  at  going  through  the 
obligations  of  ceremony,  as  I  found  them  estab 
lished  at  this  court.  I  may  have  dwelled  on  them 
the  longer  because  they  were  new  to  me  ;  but  not 
too  long.  I  do  not  discuss  their  importance.  I 
give  them  as  facts.  The  philosopher  may  rail  at 
them ;  but,  in  his  philosophy,  he  may  discover,  if 
candid,  matter  for  raillery  too.  In  the  machinery 
of  political  as  social  life,  the  smallest  parts  are 
often  those  that  give  impulse  to  the  greatest  move 
ments.  If  we  visit  a  strange  country,  scan  its 
general  population,  enter  its  farm  houses,  its  cot 
tages,  its  work  shops,  we  are  permitted  to  speak 
of  appearances  and  habits  that  on  all  sides  arrest 
the  eye,  and  challenge  the  observation  of  the  mind. 
May  we  not,  with  a  guarded  freedom,  do  the  same 


1 8 1 8 .]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J  J  3 

of  the  high  places  of  the  world  ?  In  the  modes  of 
life  prevailing  in  each,  we  behold  the  component 
parts  of  the  grand  whole.  If  the  springs  of  power 
issue  from  the  former,  it  is  in  the  latter,  under 
monarchies,  that  its  agents  dwell ;  and  perhaps  if 
the  real  feelings  that  exist  in  each  could  be  better 
known  to  the  other,  jealousies  might  be  softened, 
more  frequently  than  increased. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  forms  I  detail,  are 
the  growth  only  of  monarchical  soils.  Their  roots 
lie  deeper.  If  none  but  republics  existed,  other 
forms  would  arise,  differing  in  circumstance,  but 
not  in  essence.  In  the  genius  of  the  latter  gov 
ernments,  there  is  a  sternness  peculiarly  opposed 
to  giving  up  claims  to  outward  reverence.  The 
Roman  senate  took  more  offence  at  Cesar's  refusal 
to  rise  on  an  occasion  when  they  intended  to  do 
him  honour,  than  at  his  passing  the  Rubicon  or 
seizing  upon  the  treasury.  The  title  of  majesty, 
is  modern  as  applied  to  kings.  The  Romans  used 
it  with  peculiar  fondness,  says  Dryden,  in  reference 
to  the  people — MAJESTAS  POPULI  ROMANI.  The 
first  treaty  that  Cromwell  entered  into  with  the 
United  Provinces,  had  a  stipulation  that  their 
ships  should  strike  their  flags  in  British  seas,  to 
the  "  REPUBLIC"  of  England.  We  have  seen  in 

our  own  day,  with  how  prompt  a  sensibility  Pre- 
15 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

sident  Madison,  whose  life  has  been  a  model  of 
dignity  as  of  public  and  private  virtue,  stood  upon 
the  point  of  form,  when  treaties  were  to  be  signed ; 
nor  was  he  less  scrupulous,  when  complimentary 
salutes  were  to  be  exchanged  with  the  vessels  or 
batteries  of  foreign  powers.  It  is  not  probable 
that  President  Jackson  would  yield  any  thing  upon 
this,  or  any  other  established  form  in  international 
intercourse.  If  the  individual  of  just  pride  is  he 
who  respects  himself  whilst  he  respects  others, 
nations  will  ever  be  still  more  quick  to  the  same 
feeling,  and  to  all  its  external  manifestations. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  H5 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Attempt  upon  the  life  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Old  customs 
about  the  court.  Dinner  at  the  Danish  ministers.  Private 
audience  of  the  Queen.  The  Drawing  Room.  Dinner  at 
Lord  Castlereagh's. 

February  16.  THE  late  attempt  upon  the  life  of 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  in  Paris,  is  a  topic.  He 
went  there  on  business  relating,  as  is  believed,  to 
the  evacuation  of  France  by  the  army  of  occupa 
tion,  of  which  the  English  forms  a  part.  Return 
ing  to  his  hotel  at  midnight,  a  pistol  was  fired  at 
his  carriage.  One  of  his  aids  was  with  him.  No 
body  was  hurt.  The  report  collected  people,  and 
some  gendarmerie  went  in  pursuit.  The  duke 
made  his  coachman  stop,  got  out,  and  looked 
around.  Such  is  the  account  I  hear.  I  learn  that 
it  was  transmitted  by  a  special  messenger  from 
the  French  king,  to  his  ambassador  at  this  court. 
The  ambassador  repaired  to  Carlton  House,  to 
express  to  the  Prince  Regent  the  concern  felt  by 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

his  sovereign ;  with  assurances  that  all  means 
would  be  used  to  discover  the  offender  and  bring 
him  to  proper  punishment.  The  ambassador  after 
wards  went  to  Apsley  house,  the  residence  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  to  express  to  his  family  ap 
propriate  sentiments  on  the  occasion. 

February  20.  Since  my  reception,  I  have  had 
calls  from  servants  of  official  persons  for  "favours" 
I  learned  the  signification  of  this  term  at  Ports 
mouth.  They  had  no  warrant  from  their  masters, 
but  came  according  to  ancient  custom.  There 
have  also  been  to  me,  fraternities  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  Portsmouth  Bell  Ringers;  as  the 
"  Palace  drums  and  fifes"  the  "  Royal  waits  and 
music"  and,  a  third,  the  derivation  of  which  I  could 
not  understand,  and  which  no  external  symbols 
that  I  saw  denoted — the  "  King's  marrow-bones 
and  cleavers"  Each  presented  me  with  a  congra 
tulatory  address.  Each  had  a  "  book  to  show"  All 
had  something  to  do  with  out-door  arrangements 
at  levees.  Contributions  from  such  sources  upon 
the  diplomatic  stranger,  awakened,  at  first,  my 
surprise,  but  I  afterwards  heard  what  perhaps 
may  serve  as  explanatory,  or  at  all  events,  is 
fit  to  be  stated.  Ambassadors  on  leaving  En 
gland,  always  receive  from  the  British  govern 
ment  a  present  of  a  thousand  pounds ;  ministers 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  H7 

plenipotentiary,  of  five  hundred.  If  then  on  their 
first  arrival,  and  from  time  to  time  afterwards, 
applications  are  made  to  them  for  "favours"  by 
those  in  menial  and  such-like  situations  about  the 
court  or  government,  the  latter,  it  must  be  owned, 
pays  back  again,  and  with  no  stinted  hand.  I 
do  not  hint  that  it  does  so  in  the  light  of  an  indem 
nity,  but  the  customs  go  well  together  !  True, 
the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States, 
never  takes  the  five  hundred  pounds  offered  to 
him,  the  constitution  of  his  country  forbidding  it. 
But  this  is  a  point  which  it  may  be  presumed  he 
does  not  stop  to  expound  to  the  servants  of  the 
foreign  secretary,  or  the  " Royal  waits  and  music" 
It  would  doubtless  be  to  them  a  novel  plea  in  bar, 
for  not  putting  his  hand  in  his  pocket !  When 
ever  he  pays  for  music,  he  must  consider  himself 
as  having  an  equivalent  in  its  "  silver  sounds  ;"  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Portsmouth  bells,  in  their  ani 
mating  peals ! 

If  I  had  calls  like  these,  I  am  bound  to  mention 
others.  A  great  number  of  persons  of  the  court 
and  other  circles,  paid  me  visits.  Their  names  I 
need  not  recount.  Of  the  list,  were  those  whose 
acquaintance  any  one  might  regard  as  a  source  of 
gratification.  In  me,  the  feeling  was  heightened, 
as  it  marked  the  estimation  in  which  my  country 
was  held.  Intercourse  to  which  the  door  thus 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

opened  in  my  favour,  was  afterwards  extended, 
leading  to  hospitalities  that  can  neither  pass  from 
the  memory,  nor  grow  cold  upon  the  heart. 

February  23.  At  a  dinner  at  the  Danish  minis 
ter's,  we  had  half  a  dozen  gentlemen ;  among  them, 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy.  There  were  also  ladies. 
One  of  the  latter  spoke  of  Franklin ;  he  was  a 
captivating  writer — so  much  nature — so  much  ge 
nius  ;  Mr.  Jefferson  had  said  that  to  see  the  junc 
tion  of  two  of  our  rivers  where  one  breaks  through 
a  mountain,  was  worth  crossing  the  Atlantic ;  but 
she  would  think  the  voyage  better  undertaken  to 
see  Franklin's  old  china  bowl  and  silver  spoon  his 
wife  bought  for  him ;  she  hoped  both  were  kept ; 
it  would  be  sacrilege  to  let  them  perish.  I  was 
charmed  at  her  manner  of  saying  all  this.  Sir 
Humphrey  took  his  share  in  the  conversation.  At 
the  first  words  of  this  great  chemist  and  philoso 
pher,  I  was  all  attention ;  but  he  talked  of  neither 
chemistry  nor  philosophy.  He  agreed  to  what  was 
said  of  Franklin.  He  spoke  of  the  expedition  pre 
paring  for  the  north  pole  ;  it  was  fitted  up  he  said 
with  every  thing  but  a  philosopher ;  whether  the 
sailors  would  have  no  such  non-descript  on  board, 
or  none  would  consent  to  go,  he  could  not  say ; 
the  ocean  was  a  noble  dominion  for  nations,  but  a 


j  g  -^  g  -j  COURT  OF  LONDON.  1 1 9 

bad  place  for  landsmen;  worst  of  all  for  philoso 
phers.     He  spoke  of  the  case  about  wager  of  bat 
tle,  pending  in  the  king's  bench ;  the  very  argument 
was  so  like  a  burlesque,  that  he  thought  the  par 
ties  had  better  be  allowed  to  fight  it  out  at  once, 
"  the  fancy"  forming  a  ring,  while  parliament  and 
the  judges  looked  on.     His  elocution  was  remark 
ably  prompt  and  smooth.     In  society  he  seems  as 
pleasing,  as  in  the  lecture  room  he  is  profound. 
He  told  me  that  the  widow  of  Garrick  was  alive, 
at  an  advanced  age,  and  lived  not  far  from  the 
house  I  had  taken.     Mr.  Bourke,  our  kind  host, 
had  been  much  among  the  courts  of  Europe.     In 
clination  and  opportunity  had  improved  his  taste 
in  the  arts.     In  the  drawing  rooms  after  dinner, 
pictures  were  talked  of,  his  walls  showing  some 
fine  ones.     He  said,  that  in   distinguishing  the 
various  productions  of  the  different  masters,  of  all 
the  schools,  there  was  no  more  difficulty,  where 
the  eye  had  been  practised  among  large  collec 
tions,  than  in  distinguishing  the  faces  and  hand 
writing  of  your  living  acquaintances. 

February  25.  Having  brought  from  my  gov 
ernment,  a  letter  of  credence  to  the  queen,  I  was 
this  day  presented  to  her.  It  was  called  a  private 
presentation,  and  took  place  at  Buckingham  pal- 


]  20  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  f  1 8 1 8 . 

ace.  An  exchange  of  notes  with  the  master  of 
ceremonies,  had  made  me  acquainted  with  the 
previous  arrangements.  Lord  Castlereagh  had 
also  apprized  me  of  them. 

I  got  to  the  palace  before  the  hour  fixed.  Ser 
vants  were  at  the  door,  and  in  the  hail.  Ascending 
an  ample  staircase,  the  master  of  ceremonies  re 
ceived  me  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  a  suite,  all  open, 
but  no  one  else  in  them.  When  five  o'clock  came, 
he  conducted  me  to  the  audience  room,  which  I 
entered  alone. 

Immediately  before  me  wras  the  Queen.  On  her 
right,  was  one  of  the  princesses,  her  daughter  ;  on 
her  left  another.  Near  them,  were  two  ladies  in 
waiting,  the  Countess  of  Macclesfield,  and  Countess 
of  Illchester.  All  were  in  full  court  dresses,  and 
all  standing.  In  another  part  of  the  room  were 
her  majesty's  chamberlain,  and  the  Duke  of  Mont- 
rose.  These  made  up  the  assemblage.  All  was 
silence.  Approaching  the  queen,  I  said : — "  Hav 
ing  been  accredited  by  his  royal  highness,  the 
Prince  Regent,  as  envoy  extraordinary  and  minis 
ter  plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States,  I  have 
now  the  honour  to  present  this  letter  to  your  ma 
jesty.  In  executing  the  duties  of  my  mission,  I 
have  it  in  charge  from  the  President  so  to  bear 
myself,  as  to  give  hope  of  gaining  your  majesty's 


COURT  OF  LONDON. 

esteem ;  and  this  I  beg  to  assure  your  majesty 
will  be  my  constant  ambition."  She  received  the 
letter.  As  she  took  it  she  said,  that  the  senti 
ments  I  expressed  were  very  obliging,  and  entered 
into  conversation.  Learning  that  I  was  from 
Philadelphia,  she  asked  questions  about  it,  and 
others  respecting  the  United  States ;  all  put  in  a 
very  kind  spirit.  The  interview  lasted  about  fif 
teen  minutes. 

The  Queen  was  then  seventy  six.  Her  birth 
day,  was  on  the  day  following.  As  I  entered  the 
room,  and  during  the  whole  interview,  there  was 
a  benignity  in  her  manner,  which,  in  union  with 
her  age,  her  sex  and  her  rank,  was  both  attractive 
and  touching.  The  tones  of  her  voice  had  a 
gentleness,  the  result  in  part  of  years ;  but  full  as 
much  of  intended  suavity  to  a  stranger.  The 
scene  as  it  first  broke  upon  me,  its  novelty,  its 
quiet,  yet  impressive,  stateliness,  became,  almost 
immediately,  by  her  manner,  one  of  naturalness 
and  ease.  My  immediate  predecessor,  Mr.  Adams, 
when  presented  to  her,  made  an  allusion  to  qualities 
in  her  character,  which,  as  I  came  to  learn  through 
a  good  source,  was  advantageously  remembered  at 
the  English  court,  I  will  here  repeat.  His  mission 
commenced  in  1815,  directly  after  the  war  between 

the  two  countries.     He  said,  that  the  political  re- 

16 


1 22  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

lations  between  them,  had  been  subject  to  the 
versatility  that  attended  all  human  affairs ;  that 
dissentions  had  arisen,  which  however  had  been 
removed,  and,  he  ardently  hoped,  permanently 
removed ;  but  that  the  reverence  commanded  by 
her  majesty's  private  virtues,  had  been  subject  to 
no  such  change ;  it  had  been  invariably  felt  by  his 
government,  and  he  could  utter  no  wish  more  pro 
pitious  to  the  happiness  of  both  countries,  than 
that  the  future  harmony  between  them  might  be 
equally  unalterable.  The  allusion  was  happy, 
because  it  was  just.  Throughout  a  long  life  she 
had  been  uniformly  distinguished  by  her  private 
virtues,  and  her  efforts  to  imprint  them  upon  the 
times.  I  saw  her  sinking  below  the  horizon  ;  but 
the  serenity  that  I  saw,  betokened,  that  as  the 
splendours  of  her  day  were  setting,  she  had  a  con 
sciousness  that  it  was  not  for  those  alone  she  had 
lived. 

February  27.  Yesterday  her  majesty  held  a  draw 
ing  room.  It  was  in  celebration  of  her  birth  day. 
My  wife  was  presented  to  her,  by  LadyCastlereagh. 
Besides  being  a  birth  day  celebration,  it  was  the 
first  drawing  room  of  the  season,  and  the  first 
since  the  death  of  the  princess  Charlotte.  The 
weather  was  fine ;  the  sun  brilliant.  A  permit 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

had  been  sent  from  the  board  of  green  cloth  for 
my  carriage  to  pass  into  St.  James's  Park  through 
the  gate  on  Constitution  hill. 

Going  through  Hyde  Park,  I  found  the  whole 
way  from  Tyburn  to  Piccadilly,  (about  a  mile,) 
filled  with  private  carriages,  standing  still.  Persons 
were  in  them  who  had  adopted  this  mode  of  seeing 
those  who  went  to  court.  Tenfold  the  number 
went  by  other  approaches,  and  every  approach, 
I  was  told,  was  thronged  with  double  rows  of 
equipages,  also  filled  with  spectators.  I  was  to  be 
set  down  with  the  rest  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and 
others  who  had  the  entre,  at  a  door  assigned, 
within  the  court  yard  of  the  palace.  Arrived  in 
its  vicinity,  my  carriage  was  stopped  by  those 
before  it.  Here  we  saw,  through  the  trees  and 
avenues  of  the  park,  other  carriages  coming  up, 
in  two  regular  lines  from  the  horse  guards  and  St. 
James's.  Another  line,  that  had  already  been  up, 
was  turning  slowly  off,  towards  the  bird  cage  walk. 
Foreigners  agreed,  that  the  united  capitals  of 
Europe  could  not  match  the  sight.  The  glitter  of 
the  carriages,  was  heightened  by  the  appearance 
of  the  numerous  servants  in  glowing  livery,  there 
being  generally  two  and  often  three  footmen  behind 
each  carriage.  The  horses  were  all  in  the  highest 
condition,  and,  under  heavy,  emblazoned  harness, 


1 24  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

seemed,  like  war  horses,  to  move  proudly.  Trum 
pets  were  sounding,  and  the  Park  and  Tower  guns 
firing.  There  were  ranks  of  cavalry  in  scarlet, 
with  their  bright  helmets  and  jet  black  horses ;  the 
same  we  were  informed,  men  and  horses,  that  had 
been  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  Their  appear 
ance  was  in  a  high  degree  martial  and  splendid. 
The  hands  of  the  men  grasped  their  swords  in 
gloves  of  white  buckskin,  reaching  half  way  up  to 
the  elbow — a  prominent  part  of  the  equipments 
that  made  up  the  exact  uniformity  and  military 
beauty  of  the  whole  array. 

We  were  soon  set  down,  and  entered  the  great 
hall.  What  a  contrast !  The  day  before,  I  had 
gone  up  the  same  staircase  alone.  Now  what  did 
I  see  ?  We  were  not  out  of  time,  for,  by  appoint 
ment,  my  carriage  reached  the  palace  with  Lord 
Castlereagh's ;  but  whilst  hundreds  were  still  arri 
ving,  hundreds  were  endeavouring  to  come  away. 
The  staircase  branched  off  at  the  first  landing, 
into  two  arms,  and  was  wide  enough  to  admit  a 
partition,  which  had  been  let  in.  The  company 
ascending,  took  one  channel ;  those  descending, 
the  other,  and  both  channels  were  full.  The  whole 
group  stood  motionless.  The  openings  through 
the  old  carved  balusters,  brought  all  under  view  at 
once,  and  the  paintings  on  the  walls  were  all  seen 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J  2  5 

at  the  same  time.  The  hoop  dresses  of  the  ladies, 
sparkling  with  lama ;  their  plumes  ;  their  lappets  ; 
the  fanciful  attitudes  which  the  hoops  occasioned, 
some  getting  out  of  position  as  when  in  Addisori's 
time  they  were  adjusted  to  shoot  a  door;  the 
various  costumes  of  the  gentlemen,  as  they  stood 
pinioning  their  elbows,  and  holding  in  their  swords; 
the  common  hilarity  created  by  the  common  di 
lemma  ;  the  bland  recognitions  passing  between 
those  above  and  below,  made  up,  altogether,  an 
exhibition  so  picturesque,  that  a  painter  might  give  it, 
as  illustrative,  so  far,  of  the  English  court  at  that 
era.  Without  pausing  to  describe  the  incidents  dur 
ing  our  progress  upwards,  it  may  be  sufficient  to 
say,  that  the  party  to  which  I  was  attached,  and  of 
which  lady  Castlereagh  towering  in  her  bloom, 
was  the  leader,  reached  the  summit  of  the  staircase 
in  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 

Four  rooms  were  allotted  to  the  ceremony.  In 
the  second,  was  the  queen.  She  sat  on  a  velvet 
chair  and  cushion,  a  little  raised  up.  Near  her 
were  the  princesses,  and  ladies  in  waiting.  The 
general  company,  as  they  reached  the  corridor  by 
one  arm  of  the  staircase,  passed  on  to  the  queen. 
Bowing  to  her,  they  regained  it,  after  passing 
through  all  the  rooms,  by  an  outlet  that  led  to  the 
other  arm ;  which  they  descended.  When  my 


1 2(5  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

wife  was  presented,  her  majesty  addressed  some 
conversation  to  her,  as  a  stranger.  This  she  could 
not  do  to  all,  time  not  permitting.  The  Prince 
Regent  was  there  and  royal  family  ;  cabinet  min 
isters  and  their  ladies ;  foreign  ambassadors  and 
ministers  with  theirs.  These,  having  the  entre, 
remained,  if  they  chose,  in  the  room  with  the 
queen.  A  numerous  portion  of  the  nobility  were 
present,  their  wives  and  daughters ;  with  others 
distinguished  in  life,  though  bearing  neither  title 
nor  station.  Conversation  you  got  as  you  could, 
in  so  great  and  rich  a  throng. 

If  the  scene  in  the  hall  was  picturesque,  the  one 
up  stairs  transcended  it  in  all  ways.  The  doors 
of  the  rooms  were  all  open.  You  saw  in  them  a 
thousand  ladies  richly  dressed.  All  the  colours  of 
nature  were  mingling  their  rays,  under  the  fairy 
designs  of  art.  It  was  the  first  occasion  of  laying 
by  mourning  for  the  Princess  Charlotte ;  so  that  it 
was  like  the  bursting  out  of  spring.  No  lady  was 
without  her  plume.  The  whole  was  a  waving  field 
of  feathers.  Some  were  blue,  like  the  sky  ;  some 
tinged  with  red ;  here  you  saw  violet,  and  yellow ; 
there  shades  of  green  ;  but  the  most  were  of  pure 
white,  like  tufts  of  snow.  The  diamonds  encir 
cling  them  caught  the  sun  through  the  windows, 
and  threw  dazzling  beams  around.  Then,  the 


COURT  OF  LONDON. 

hoops ;  these  I  cannot  describe.  They  should  be 
seen.  To  see  one  is  nothing ;  but  to  see  a  thou 
sand,  and  their  thousand  wearers,  on  such  a  day  ! 
I  afterwards  sat  in  the  ambassadors'  box  in  West 
minster  hall  at  a  coronation.  That  sight  faded 
before  this.  Each  lady  seemed  to  rise  out  of  a 
gilded  little  barricade,  or  one  of  silvery  texture. 
This,  topped  by  her  plume,  and  the  "  face  divine" 
interposing,  gave  to  the  whole  an  effect  so  unique, 
so  fraught  with  feminine' grace  and  grandeur,  that 
it  seemed  as  if  a  curtain  had  risen  to  show  a 
pageant  in  another  sphere.  It  was  brilliant  and 
joyous.  Those  to  whom  it  was  not  new,  stood  at 
gaze,  as  I  did ;  Canning  for  one.  His  fine  eye 
took  it  all  in.  You  saw  admiration  in  the  gravest 
statesmen ;  Lord  Liverpool,  Huskisson,  the  lord 
chancellor — every  body.  I  had  already  seen  in 
England  signs  enough  of  opulence  and  power. 
Now  I  saw,  radiating  on  all  sides,  British  beauty. 
My  own  country,  I  believed,  was  destined  to  a  just 
measure  of  the  two  first ;  and  I  had  the  inward 
assurance  that  my  countrywomen  were  the  inheri 
tresses  of  the  last.  Matre  pulchra  jilia  pulchrior. 
So  appeared  to  me  the  drawing  room  of  Queen 
Charlotte. 

The  ceremonies  of  the  day  being  ended  as  far 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

as  myself  and  suite  were  concerned,  we  sought 
the  corridor  to  come  away.  In  good  time  we 
reached  the  head  of  the  descending  channel.  Will 
it  be  believed  !  both  channels  were  as  full  as  ever 
of  hoops  and  plumes.  There  was  something  in 
the  spectacle  from  this  position  that  presented  a 
new  image.  Positively,  it  came  over  the  eye  like 
beautiful  architecture ;  the  hoops  the  base,  the 
plume  the  pinnacle  !  The  parts  of  this  dress  may 
have  been  incongruous ;  but  the  whole  was  har 
mony.  Like  old  English  buildings,  and  Shakes 
peare,  it  carried  the  feelings  with  it,  triumphing 
over  criticism.  We  got  down  stairs  in  about  the 
same  time  it  took  to  get  up.  As  we  waited  in  the 
hall  for  our  carriage,  military  bands  were  playing 
in  the  court  yard,  some  mounted  on  the  superb 
cavalry,  some  on  foot ;  amidst  the  strains  of  which 
we  drove  off. 

In  the  evening  I  dined  at  Lord  Castlereagh's. 
It  was  a  dinner  in  honour  of  the  birth-day.  The 
foreign  ambassadors  and  ministers,  and  several  of 
the  English  ambassadors  at  European  courts,  at 
home  on  leave,  were  at  it,  all  in  official  costume. 
Among  the  topics,  was  the  beautiful  scene  of  the 
morning.  All  gave  their  voice  to  its  attractive 
ness.  I  will  say  no  more  of  the  dinner.  Lord 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  129 

Castlereagh,  anxious  for  the  pleasure  of  his  guests, 
diffused  his  attentions  in  ways  to  promote  it.  We 
sat  down  at  eight,  and  rose  at  ten.  By  eleven, 
the  company  dispersed. 


17 


130  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ("1818. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Emigration.  Literary  institutions.  Clubs.  Booksellers' 
shops.  St.  James's  palace — party  at  the  Dutchess  of  Cum 
berland's — at  the  Russian  ambassador's — at  the  Marchion 
ess  of  Stafford's — at  Lord  Melville's.  The  Duke  of  Sussex. 
Dinner  at  the  Mansion  House. 


March  1.  I  receive  many  letters  from  persons 
on  emigrating  to  the  United  States.  The  writers 
seek  information  and  advice,  neither  of  which  I 
afford.  The  bad  subjects  of  Britain  we  do  not 
want ;  the  good,  it  is  no  part  of  my  province  to  be 
instrumental  in  drawing  away.  If,  however,  the 
majority  of  the  applicants  be  what  they  profess  to 
be,  they  would  prove  an  acquisition  to  any  new 
country ;  where,  land  being  abundant  and  labour 
dear,  men  are  the  best  of  all  imports.  One,  a 
farmer,  represents  himself  to  have  six  thousand 
pounds ;  two  of  the  same  class  say,  that  they  each 
would  carry  over  about  half  as  much.  I  learn 
that  another  of  the  applicants,  a  manufacturer,  is 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  j 3 j 

reputed  to  be  worth  thirty  thousand  pounds.  The 
naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States,  give  less 
encouragement  to  emigrants  than  is  generally  sup 
posed  ;  less  than  some  of  their  citizens  think  wise. 
For  one,  I  regard  them  as  unwise.  They  do  not 
confer  citizenship  upon  terms  as  favourable  as 
Russia  and  Holland  have  formerly  done,  and  are 
believed  to  do  still;  as  England  did  formerly,  for  she 
even  offered  bounties  to  certain  classes  of  foreign 
ers  on  coming  to  her  shores ;  and  as  France  has 
done  at  periods  when  even  her  population  in  pro 
portion  to  her  soil,  was  ten-fold  greater  than  that  of 
the  United  States  at  present.  The  latter  require  a 
full  residence  of  five  years,  with  regulations  that 
put  further  clogs  upon  the  privilege.  If  every  clog 
were  removed,  it  would  stand,  in  my  opinion,  as 
the  wisest  law  in  our  code  for  ages  yet  to  come. 

I  should  fill  many  pages  were  I  to  detail  applica 
tions  of  another  description ;  I  mean  from  authors 
of  new  projects.  One  has  an  improved  plan  for 
making  rockets ;  another  thinks  he  has  discovered 
a  mode  of  building  ships  that  will  make  all  sail 
alike ;  a  third  has  a  model  of  a  gun  carriage,  by 
which  a  sixty-four  pounder  can  be  worked  as 
easily  as  a  swivel ;  a  fourth,  a  fire  machine  to 
explode  under  water,  with  more  destruction  to 
every  thing  above  than  Fulton's  torpedo.  The 


132  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

projectors  all  desire  patronage  from  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  and  will  go  over,  on  proper 
encouragement  from  me.  It  will  be  inferred,  that 
if  I  leave  farmers  and  manufacturers  to  think  and 
act  for  themselves,  I  abstain  from  all  interference 
in  the  cases  of  these  ingenious  persons.  In  truth, 
we  want  them  less.  Most  of  their  inventions  are 
for  destroying  life ;  as  if  means  enough  were  not 
known  already. 

March  2.  Visited  the  Royal  Institution  in  Al- 
bemarle  street.  Its  objects  are  scientific  and 
literary.  A  lecture  room,  with  apparatus,  is  an 
nexed,  where  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  and  professors 
Brande  and  Milligan  deliver  lectures.  It  has  a 
large  library  and  is  furnished  with  the  current 
periodical  publications.  I  speak  of  it  merely  as 
one,  though  of  much  repute,  among  numerous 
similar  establishments  in  London  for  rendering 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge  easy.  Another  was 
mentioned  to  me — the  London  Institution  in  Moor- 
fields — founded  a  few  years  ago  at  an  expense  of 
upwards  of  fifty  thousand  guineas  obtained  by 
subscription  among  private  individuals  in  that 
range  of  the  city.  The  clubs  also  have  libraries, 
and  tables  for  the  periodical  works.  It  is  so  at 
the  Alfred,  near  the  Royal  Institution.  The  club 


-j  g  1 3  -1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J  33 

houses  appear  to  be  among  the  largest  in  town, 
judging  from  those  in  St.  James's  street.     Let  me 
here  relate  what  I  heard  a  member  of  one  of  them 
— White's — the  great  tory  club  in  this  street,  say. 
Somebody  spoke  of  the  lights  kept  burning  there 
all  night ;  yes,  said  he,  "  they  have  not  been  out,  I 
should  think,  since  the  reign  of  Charles  77."     The 
London  clubs  of  the  higher  order,  attest  the  di 
versified  society,  as  well  as  the  wealth  and  great 
ness,  of  this  metropolis.  They  are  not  associations 
for  mere  conviviality,  but  for  intercourse  upon  a 
far    broader   scale,   political,    literary,    scientific, 
dramatic,  and  objects  more  various.     At  a  subse 
quent  day  I  visited  several,  and  had  the  freedom 
of  some  bestowed  upon  me.     I  was  honoured  with 
that  of  the  United  Service  club,  the  Alfred  and  the 
Traveller's.     The  first,  for  extent  and  complete 
ness,  I  may  almost  add  splendour,  surpassed  any 
that  came  under  my  observation,  though  all  were 
more  or  less  striking.     None  of  its  members  are 
below  the  rank  of  field  officers  in  the  army,  or 
captains  in  the  navy.     Through  the  good  offices 
of  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  I  had  the  privilege  of 
resorting  to  the  library  and  reading  rooms  of  the 
Royal  Institution.     My  gratitude  is  due  for  the 
facilities  accorded  to  me  at  all  times  for  reading 
and   consulting   books  there,   and   attending  the 
lectures. 


134  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

I  have  been  to  several  of  the  great  booksellers' 
shops;  that  of  Payne  and  Fosse,  in  Pall  Mall, 
whose  collection  is  said  to  be  very  choice ;  some 
in  Paternoster  Row,  and  Lackington's,  corner  of 
Finsbury  square.  A  bird's  eye  view  of  them, 
shows  the  great  amount  of  capital  employed  in 
this  branch  of  business,  the  more  imposing  as  it 
proclaims  intellectual  as  well  as  monied  capital. 
The  mere  external  arrangement  at  Lackington's 
seemed  the  best,  and  I  should  have  inferred,  but 
perhaps  erroneously,  as  I  did  not  see  the  whole 
extent  of  some  in  Paternoster  Row,  that  their 
collection  was  largest.  One  of  the  firm  told  me, 
that  the  number  of  volumes  in  two  descriptions  of 
books,  Shakespeare  and  the  periodical  writers, 
amounted,  as  nearly  as  he  could  say,  to  about  one 
hundred  thousand.  I  should  have  conjectured  that 
the  entire  collection  could  scarcely  have  fallen 
short  of  a  million  of  volumes.  Opening  cursorily 
some  of  the  catalogues,  Lackington's  appeared  to 
contain  the  greatest  number  of  works  on  America ; 
especially  on  the  early  colonial  history  of  the 
United  States.  The  catalogues  are  made  out  with 
great  care,  giving  the  prices,  and  formed  well 
sized  octavo  volumes.  Lackington's  ran  on  to  a 
thousand  pages. 

Of  books,  we  expect  catalogues.     But  it  is  much 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON-  135 

the  habit  of  English  shopkeepers  generally,  to 
have  printed  lists  of  their  articles.  Stepping  into 
a  hardware  shop,  the  proprietor  handed  me  a  stout 
pamphlet  which  presented  his  whole  assortment  in 
print,  with  the  prices  annexed  to  each  item,  no 
matter  how  minute.  Haberdashers  send  out  their 
inventories  in  print,  and  the  dealers  in  a  thousand 
other  things,  theirs ;  their  packets  come  to  my 
house  in  I  know  not  what  quantity — through  the 
two-penny  post  or  by  errand  boys — to  the  advan 
tage  of  the  paper  maker,  job  printer,  and  other 
handicrafts  in  the  system  of  subdivision  in  a  great 
metropolis, 

March  4.  Went  the  evening  before  last,  to  a 
party  at  the  Dutchess  of  Cumberland's,  St.  James's 
palace. 

This  is  among  the  oldest  buildings  in  London. 
It  presents  on  the  street,  a  fortress-like  aspect. 
To  what  order  it  belongs,  would  be  hard  to  say, 
the  whole  being  an  irregular  pile.  But  the  very 
confusion  in  its  plan,  with  its  antiquity,  and  the 
sentinels  pacing  day  and  night  about  its  purlieus, 
minister  to  the  fancy,  making  amends  for  its  want 
of  good  architecture.  So  says  one,  who,  unac 
customed  to  the  sight  of  edifices  that  go  far  back 
into  time,  finds  this  the  ingredient  which  seizes 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

most  upon  his  first  feelings.  I  remembered  this 
palace,  historically,  as  the  one  from  the  windows  of 
which  George  III.  showed  himself  to  the  people 
when  rejoicings  were  going  on  for  the  capture  of 
Quebec. 

We  drove  under  a  gatehouse  leading  to  a  paved 
court  yard.  Here  we  were  set  down  at  the  en 
trance  to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  apartments. 
Directed  by  servants  who  lined  the  way,  we  passed 
up  to  the  rooms  of  entertainment.  The  company 
was  not  very  large.  In  a  rich  arm  chair  at  the 
opening  of  a  wide  door-way  between  two  of  the 
rooms,  sat  the  Prince  Regent ;  on  one  side  of  him 
the  Dutchess  of  Cumberland,  on  the  other  the 
Marchioness  of  Hereford.  The  rest  of  the  com 
pany  stood.  When  we  entered,  all  were  listening 
to  music.  Members  of  the  royal  family,  cabinet 
ministers,  the  foreign  ambassadors,  with  their 
respective  ladies,  and  others,  formed  the  groups. 
I  observed  among  them  the  lord  chancellor,  Sir 
William  Scott,  and  Mr.  Canning.  On  a  pause  in 
the  music,  there  was  conversation.  The  Dutchess 
of  Cumberland,  spoke  kindly  of  my  country,  and 
individuals  belonging  to  it ;  particularly  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Adams,  whom  she  had  known  at  the  court  of 
Berlin.  The  duke  talked  to  me  of  the  United 
States,  embracing  in  his  inquiries,  language  ;  with 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

a  desire  to  learn  how  far,  if  at  all,  we  fell  into 
changes  in  idiom  or  pronunciation  from  the  parent 
stock. 

I  had  introductions  to  several  persons.  Whilst 
in  conversation  with  the  Earl  of  Hardwicke,  a  gen 
tleman  stood  within  a  few  paces  of  us.  I  did  not 
know  him.  On  separating  from  Lord  Hardwicke, 
he  advanced  towards  me,  saying,  "  I'm  going  to 
bring  a  bill  into  parliament  making  it  indictable  in 
any  stranger,  whether  ambassador  from  a  republic, 
kingdom,  or  popedom,  ever  to  leave  his  card,  in 
London,  without  his  address  upon  it ;  how  do  you 
do,  Mr.  Rush,  how  do  you  do  ;  I've  been  trying  to 
find  you  every  where — I'm  Lord  Erskine"  In  this 
manner  commenced  my  acquaintance  with  this 
gifted  man.  There  was  no  one  in  England  of 
whose  fame  I  had  oftener  heard,  or  whom  I  more 
desired  to  know.  He  continued — "  /  had  a  letter 
for  you  from  my  brother  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  but 
you  made  me  carry  it  so  long  in  my  pocket,  that  I 
lost  it ;  it  had  no  secrets  ;  it  was  only  to  congratu 
late  you  on  your  arrival ;  he  was  long  a  correspon 
dent  and  friend  of  your  fathers,  and  wants  to  transfer 
his  feelings  to  you,  that's  all ;  so  you  can  write  to 
him  as  if  you  had  received  it"  I  assured  him  of 
my  gratification  at  making  his  acquaintance,  and 

made  due  apologies  for  the  omission  on  my  card. 

18 


138  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

He  inquired  for  President  Monroe,  Mr.  Pinkney, 
and  others  ;  said  he  had  always  loved  the  United 
States,  and  hoped  to  visit  them  yet,  as  he  was  an 
old  sailor,  and  cared  nothing  for  storms.  Such 
was  his  sprightly  strain.  He  must  have  been 
seventy  or  near  it ;  but,  as  Sir  Francis  Burdett 
said  of  him,  he  illustrated  the  fable  of  youth  peep 
ing  through  the  mask  of  age.  It  was  a  treat  to 
see  so  much  genius  with  so  much  playfulness ; 
such  a  social  flow  from  one  whose  powerful  elo 
quence  had  been  felt  by  the  English  nation,  and 
helped  to  change,  on  some  fundamental  points,  the 
English  law.  He  sauntered  about  with  me,  and 
looked  at  the  paintings.  There  was  a  full  length 
likeness  of  George  II.,  another  of  George  III., 
and  one  of  Mary  of  Scots ;  a  "  royal  jade"  he 
feared,  "  but  very  pretty."  We  ended  in  a  room, 
at  the  extremity  of  the  suite,  where  was  a  table 
set  out  with  golden  urns  for  tea,  and  other  light 
refreshments ;  to  which  those  went  who  were 
inclined.  At  one  o'clock,  we  came  away.  The 
music  was  by  professional  performers.  Not  only 
are  the  first  musical  talents  of  England,  engaged 
for  private  entertainments  at  houses  of  distinction, 
but  the  best  from  Italy,  France,  and  other  parts  of 
the  continent ;  the  Fodors,  the  Pastas,  the  Ambro- 
gettis,  the  Catalanis,  who  may  always  be  seen  in 
London. 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  139 

March  10.  Dined  at  the  Russian  ambassador's. 
This  distinguished  diplomatist  is  understood  to 
enjoy  in  a  high  degree  the  good  will  of  his  sove 
reign,  and,  by  all  other  titles,  is  prominent  in  offi 
cial  and  court  circles.  To  the  social  assemblages 
of  each,  the  Princess  Lieven,  his  lady,  brings 
dignity,  intelligence  and  grace.  From  this  em 
bassy,  we  experienced  at  all  times  the  kindness  in 
unison  with  the  good  relations  subsisting  between 
the  United  States  and  Russia.  The  guests  con 
sisted  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  their  wives,  and 
some  other  foreigners.  General  conversation  was 
kept  up  at  table,  and  revived  in  smaller  circles  in 
the  drawing  rooms  afterwards. 

I  had  some  with  the  minister  plenipotentiary 
from  Naples.  He  directed  it  to  the  affairs  of  the 
United  States.  Of  their  commerce  and  marine  he 
had  been  observant,  particularly  in  the  Mediterra 
nean.  With  the  interests  of  the  countries  on  this 
sea,  he  seemed  familiar.  He  had  been  minister  at 
Constantinople ;  his  father  had  been  in  the  same 
post  before  him,  and  now,  it  was  filled  by  his  son. 
He  asked  if  my  government  did  not  contemplate 
opening  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the  Porte, 
which  led  us  to  talk  of  the  commerce  of  the  Black 
sea.  He  doubted  if  we  could  derive  benefit  from 
it,  unless  as  carriers,  should  we  even  be  admitted 


140  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

there.  All  that  we  desired,  I  said,  was  the  oppor 
tunity  of  doing  what  we  could.  The  nations  to 
whom  it  was  open  were,  he  said,  Russia,  Austria, 
England  and  France.  Naples  enjoyed  it  not ;  she 
was  unwilling  to  pay  what  the  court  of  Constanti 
nople  asked. 

Prince  Lieven  expressed  to  me  his  hope,  that 
the  late  appointment  by  the  emperor,  of  Mr.  Pole- 
ticca,  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  United 
States,  would  improve  the  friendship  between  our 
two  countries.  I  joined  in  the  hope ;  the  more,  as 
Mr.  Poleticca  had  been  favourably  known  in  the 
United  States  since  the  days  of  Count  Pahlen's 
mission.  He  spoke  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  re 
spect  in  which  he  was  held  when  minister  in 
Russia.  I  said,  that  his  titles  to  respect  at  home, 
had  been  increased  by  his  correspondence  whilst 
at  St.  Petersburgh.  Here  I  stated,  that  in  1812 
and  1813  his  despatches  relating  to  the  great 
movements  in  Europe,  were  frequent  and  full; 
that  he  proved  himself  master  of  them  all,  antici 
pating  the  political  combinations,  and  military 
results  of  that  era,  with  remarkable  precision; 
above  all,  confidently  predicting  the  failure  of 
Napoleon's  grand  expedition  to  Moscow,  from  the 
roused  and  warlike  patriotism  of  Russia,  and  her 
abundant  resources.  Such  had  been  the  uniform 


18181  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

tenor  of  his  communications.  They  were  on  the 
archives  of  the  American  government,  as  monu 
ments  of  the  writer's  capacity  to  handle  public 
affairs  of  magnitude,  with  judgment  and  forecast. 
The  ambassador  heard  with  satisfaction  my  nar 
rative. 

March  12.  Last  night  we  wrere  at  the  Mar 
chioness  of  Stafford's.  The  rooms  were  full.  The 
Prince  Regent,  royal  family,  many  of  the  nobility, 
and  others  thronged  them.  It  was  past  eleven 
when  we  arrived ;  yet  fresh  names  were  every 
moment  announced.  All  were  in  black  under  an 
order  for  a  new  court  mourning  for  the  late  King 
of  Sweden,  Charles  XIII ;  who  however  did  not 
die  king,  Bernadotte — the  remnant  of  Napoleon's 
royal  creations — occupying  the  Swedish  throne. 
The  rooms  abounded  in  ornamental  articles  which 
wealth  had  amassed  and  taste  arranged.  The 
paintings,  commanded  admiration.  Under  light 
judiciously  disposed,  they  made  a  magnificent  ap 
pearance.  There  is  said  to  be  no  such  private 
collection  in  Europe.  It  comprehends  the  produc 
tions  of  the  first  masters  of  the  different  schools. 
A  considerable  number  are  from  the  Orleans  col 
lection,  procured  in  France  by  the  Jate  Duke  of 
Bridgewater,  from  whom  the  estates  of  the  Mar- 


142  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

quis  of  Stafford  in  part  descend.  These  works  of 
genius  glowing  from  every  part  of  the  walls,  formed 
a  high  attraction. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  many  hospitalities  we 
had  from  this  family.  The  marquis  is  known  to 
his  country  by  the  public  character  his  peerage 
gives  him,  and  the  posts  he  has  filled.  The  mar 
chioness  is  not  less  known  by  her  rank,  for  she  is 
of  the  oldest  of  the  realm.  But  this  is  adventitious. 
She  is  known  also  by  her  cultivated  mind,  her 
taste  in  the  arts,  her  benevolence  to  her  tenantry ; 
by  virtues  unostentatious  and  refined,  that  com 
mend  her  to  the  love  of  domestic  and  social  circles, 
and  endear  her  name  to  strangers. 

March  17.  Dined  at  Lord  Melville's.  Lord 
and  Lady  Melville,  Lord  and  Lady  Mulgrave, 
Lord  Keith,  the  ambassador  of  the  Netherlands, 
the  Danish  minister  and  lady,  Mr.  Barrow,  and  a 
few  more,  made  the  party. 

The  polar  expedition  was  talked  of.  The  pre 
vailing  opinion  was  against  its  success,  but  Mr. 
Barrow  stood  up  for  it.  For  every  doubt,  man  of 
genius  like,  he  had  a  solution,  often  in  veins  of 
pleasantry.  I  learned  that  he  was  the  author  of 
the  article  on  this  subject  in  the  thirty-fifth  num 
ber  of  the  Quarterly  Review,  which  every  body 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

had  read  with  pleasure,  at  least.  Lord  Melville 
said,  that  nothing  would  be  omitted  by  the  admi 
ralty  to  ensure  success  to  the  expedition,  as  far  as 
equipment  was  concerned ;  but  I  saw  that  he  was 
not  sanguine  as  to  results. 

I  commended  some  delicious  oranges  on  the 
table.  His  lordship  asked  if  we  had  oranges  in 
the  United  States.  In  the  southern  parts,  I  re 
plied  ;  in  other  parts,  we  got  them  from  the  West 
Indies.  Copying  Mr.  Barrow's  good  vein  I  said,  that 
those  from  the  English  islands  would  have  a  better 
relish  if  his  majesty's  government  would  but  allow 
us  to  bring  them  in  our  own  ships !  In  the  same 
spirit  his  lordship  answered,  that,  for  one,  he  would 
be  most  happy  to  contribute  to  our  enjoyments ; 
but  must  first  hear  what  Lord  Castlereagh  had  to 
say ! 

In  the  dining  room,  hung  the  original  paintings 
of  the  places  seen  by  Cook  in  his  voyages.  In  the 
hall,  was  one  of  Duncan's  victory  over  the  Dutch, 
off  Camperdown.  I  asked  if  there  was  no  collec 
tion  in  England  representing,  in  historical  series, 
the  victories  of  the  nation  gained  in  fleets,  begin 
ning  with  those  in  Cromwell's  time.  His  lordship 
said,  none. 

In  the  drawing  room,  was  a  large  vase  of  ala 
baster,  about  eight  feet  high,  and  of  the  finest  pro- 


144  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

portions.  It  stood  before  a  mirror,  arid  on  the 
exterior  surface,  the  whole  story  of  Lucretia  was 
represented  in  figures  of  demi-relievo.  The  work 
was  exquisite.  The  vase  was  illuminated  inside, 
casting  its  softened  shades  through  the  room ;  and 
by  the  reflections  of  the  mirror,  all  the  figures, 
though  on  a  spherical  surface,  came  under  the  eye 
at  once.  This  classic  and  beautiful  ornament, 
which  the  size  of  the  room  displayed  to  the  best 
advantage,  had  been  imported  from  Florence. 
England,  though  carrying  the  manufacturing  arts 
to  so  high  a  pitch,  is  filled  with  the  costly  produc 
tions  of  other  parts  of  the  world ;  the  porcelain, 
the  silk  damasks,  the  or-molu,  of  France ;  the 
finest  works  in  marble  from  Italy ;  the  table  linen 
of  Holland  and  Saxony ;  the  lace  of  Flanders ;  the 
gems,  the  cashmeres,  of  India.  No  amount  of 
duty  shuts  out  such  articles  from  her  opulent 
classes.  Their  very  costliness  brings  them  into 
demand. 

March  18.  The  Duke  of  Sussex  visited  me. 
He  had  called  when  I  was  out.  Seeing  the  sec 
retary  of  legation  at  Almacs',  he  fixed  to  day  for 
calling  again,  arid  I  staid  at  home  to  receive  him. 

An  ardour  for  constitutional  liberty  pervaded 
his  conversation.  It  rose  sometimes  to  an  elo- 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  145 

quent  boldness.  I  had  not  been  prepared  for 
quite  as  much  in  a  prince  of  the  blood,  and  prized 
it  the  more.  Passing  in  review  some  of  the 
speakers  in  parliament,  he  specially  commended 
Lords  Grey,  Holland,  Lansdowne,  Grenville  and 
Erskine  ;  and,  of  the  House  of  Commons,  Sir 
Samuel  Romilly,  Mr.  Brougham,  and  Sir  James 
Macintosh. 

Gibbon  was  mentioned.  He  thought  highly  of 
his  historical  research,  but  preferred  Addison's 
style.  The  latter  never  tired.  It  was  adapted 
to  all  subjects.  He  spoke  of  Mr.  Adams,  called 
him  his  friend,  said  he  had  known  him  on  the  con 
tinent,  where,  as  in  England,  he  was  esteemed  by 
all  to  whom  he  was  known.  In  paying  a  tribute 
to  his  talents,  he  mentioned  his  knowledge  of 
languages. 

The  French  was  spoken  of  as  the  language  of 
conversation  in  Europe.  His  royal  highness  said, 
that  he  would  not  perhaps  object  to  this,  as  it  was 
now  established ;  but  when  used  as  the  language 
of  state  papers  and  treaties,  he  was  disposed  to 
view  the  subject  differently.  The  French  was 
acquired  by  foreigners  with  sufficient  precision  for 
conversation,  and  general  purposes  of  literature  ; 
but  in  drawing  up  treaties,  where  the  employment 

of  words  in  their  most  exact  sense,  even  in  their 

19 


146  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

nicest  shades  of  meaning,  was  often  of  national  mo 
ment  ha  who  wrote  in  his  native  language  had  an 
advantage  ;  and  however  slight  it  might  be,  it  was 
enough  to  lay  the  practice  open  to  objection.  He 
would  suggest  a  remedy ;  let  treaties,  and  other 
solemn  state  papers  to  which  two  or  more  nations 
were  parties,  be  drawn  up  in  Latin ;  this  would  put 
modern  nations  upon  a  par ;  each  would  stand 
upon  the  scholarship  of  their  public  men.  It  was 
to  this  effect  he  spoke.  I  thought  it  in  the  natural 
feeling  of  an  English  prince. 

The  language  of  France  has  been  diffused  by 
her  social  manners,  the  merit  of  her  writers,  the 
exile  of  her  protestants,  and  the  power  of  her 
monarchy.  Some  of  these  influences  are  past ; 
others  are  shared  by  contemporary  nations.  Is 
it  right,  that  the  monopoly  of  her  language  should 
last  forever?  I  would  be  much  inclined  to  his 
royal  highness's  remedy  if  there  were  no  other, 
though  open  to  difficulty,  perhaps,  from  modern 
terms  of  art.  But  I  venture  upon  the  suggestion 
of  another.  Let  the  language  most  likely  to  be 
predominant  throughout  Christendom,  be  the  com 
mon  vehicle  of  Christendom.  If  a  living  language 
is  to  be  adopted  at  all,  this  would  be  the  fairest 
criterion.  The  European  dominions  of  Britain 
have  a  population  of  upwards  of  twenty-two  mil- 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  147 

lions ;  the  United  States  count  more  than  twelve, 
to  take  no  notice  of  the  rapid  increase  of  the  lat 
ter,  or  numerous  colonies  of  the  former.  Here  is 
enough  to  authorize  the  belief,  that,  already,  there 
are  more  persons  to  whom  English  is  the  verna 
cular  tongue,  than  French ;  and  that  it  is  destined 
to  gain,  not  only  upon  the  French,  but  German, 
Spanish  and  all  others.  There  is  another  fact 
more  applicable.  The  foreign  commerce  of  Britain 
and  that  of  the  United  States  conjointly,  probably 
exceed  that  of  all  Europe.  This  serves  at  the 
present  day,  to  send  forth  the  English  tongue  more 
extensively  to  all  parts  of  the  globe,  than  the 
French,  or  any  of  Christendom.  Malherbe  assert 
ed  the  rights  of  his  native  language  so  strenuously 
against  all  foreign  usurpation,  that  he  gained  at 
the  French  court  the  appellation  of  "  Tyrant  of 
words  and  syllables"  Very  well,  in  a  Frenchman  ! 
But  if  treaties  and  other  international  papers  are 
always  to  be  written  in  French  words  and  syllables, 
what  becomes  of  the  equal  independence  of 
English  words  and  syllables?  The  French  are 
too  just  to  disparage  the  language  of  Milton,  and 
Newton,  and  Locke  ;  and  why  should  they  insist 
upon  the  perpetual  preference  of  their  own  ?  or 
rather  why  should  England  acquiesce  ? 

His  royal  highness,  it  must  be  added,  is  himself 


148  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

an  excellent  linguist.  To  his  knowledge  of  the 
classics,  he  adds  German,  Italian,  French,  Hebrew 
and  it  may  be  others,  of  which  I  am  not  informed. 

March  23.  Dined  at  the  lord  mayor's.  It 
was  not  Lord  Mayors  day ;  but  a  city  entertain 
ment  always  given  on  easter  Monday,  at  the  man 
sion-house.  This  edifice  is  sometimes  called  the 
city  palace.  In  size,  it  resembles  one,  and  in  some 
points  of  architecture ;  but  is  badly  situated,  being 
close  to  the  bank  and  Royal  Exchange.  The  streets 
are  so  narrow  that  you  can  see  it  but  in  part,  and 
it  is  with  difficulty  that  carriages  approach  it  at 
all.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the  lord  mayor, 
the  diplomatic  corps,  are  annually  invited  to  this 
entertainment,  which  is  always  a  gratifying  one  to 
them,  for  they  see  at  it,  the  image  of  a  great  and 
powerful  class  in  the  empire — the  commercial 
class. 

The  royal  dukes,  some  of  the  nobility,  and  per 
sons  in  station,  were  present.  These,  with  the 
diplomatic  corps,  occupied  seats  in  a  half  circle  at 
the  upper  extremity  of  the  room,  on  an  elevation 
or  dais.  The  tables  in  the  area  below,  were  filled 
with  the  opulent  citizens  of  London.  It  was  a  fine 
sight.  'They  might  be  taken  as  a  representative 
body  from  the  great  ocean  of  wealth  between 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

Temple  bar,  and  London  bridge.  The  room  was 
the  Egyptian  hall,  of  ample  dimensions  and  bril 
liantly  lighted.  A  band  played  as  we  entered. 
The  lord  mayor  and  lady  mayoress  sat  side  by 
side  in  the  centre  of  the  half  circle,  at  the  top  of 
the  dais ;  the  latter  was  in  a  full  court  dress,  and 
by  her  position  faced  the  whole  company ;  a  try 
ing  situation  which  she  bore  with  grace.  After  all 
the  courses  were  over,  toasts  were  given,  the  first 
I  had  heard  in  England.  Music  was  kept  up,  the 
song  rose,  and  every  thing  ministered  to  the  fes 
tive  feeling.  On  one  side  of  me  was  Sir  Benjamin 
Bloomfield.  At  intervals,  we  conversed,  princi 
pally  of  the  United  States.  He  spoke  in  a  very 
friendly  spirit ;  urging  the  benefit  to  both  countries 
of  mutual  good  will  and  good  offices.  I  listened 
the  more,  as  he  was  private  secretary  to  the  Prince 
Regent. 

The  entertainment  closed  with  a  ball  in  another 
part  of  the  building.  Throughout  the  rooms,  were 
insignia  of  the  commerce  and  riches  of  London 
from  an  ancient  day.  The  nation  that  commands 
the  trade  of  the  world,  said  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
commands  its  riches,  and  consequently  the  world 
itself.  Whether  the  saying  be  true  or  not,  the  po 
licy,  the  laws,  the  festive  entertainments,  the  whole 
conduct  of  the  English,  attest  that  they  never  for 
get  it. 


J5Q  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Visit  to  Mr.  West.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Lyttleton's — at  Lord  Hol 
land's.  A  day  at  Deptford  and  Greenwich.  Dinner  at  the 
Austrian  ambassador's — -at  Earl  Bathurst's.  Marriage  of 
^h,e  Princess  Elizabeth.  Dinner  at  Lord  Bagot's. 

March  26.  VISITED  Mr.  West,  president  of  the 
Royal  Academy.  I  found  him  with  his  pencil  in 
his  hand. 

The  most  curious  piece  in  his  collection,  \vas 
one  painted  when  he  was  eight  years  old.  It 
was  small,  and  very  imperfect  he  said,  but  added, 
that  the  primary  colours,  blue,  red  and  yellow, 
were  so  justly  blended,  that  he  could  not  improve 
that  part  of  the  work.  On  asking  if  he  had  any 
previous  instruction  that  enabled  him  to  go  right 
in  so  important  a  particular,  he  replied,  no ;  he 
could  no  more  say  how  his  judgment  had  been 
formed  to  it,  than  how  he  learned  his  mother 
tongue. 

The  piece  to  which  he  pointed  with  most  in- 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  151 

terest,  was  the  "  Continence  of  Scipio."  It  had 
been  instrumental  in  bringing  him  into  notice, 
forty  years  before.  George  III.  sent  for  it,  and 
kept  it  for  some  time  at  his  palace.  At  his  ma 
jesty's  request,  he  had  painted  a  series  of  historical 
pieces,  from  the  New  Testament.  They  were  at 
Windsor,  to  be  put  up  in  a  chapel  the  king  con 
templated  building. 

The  number  of  pieces  in  his  rooms  was  very 
great.  He  had  been  computing  the  dimensions  of 
a  gallery,  to  contain  all  he  had  ever  painted.  He 
found  that  it  would  require  one  four  hundred  feet 
long,  fifty  broad,  and  forty  high.  The  piece  from 
Lear,  in  the  Academy  of  Arts  at  Philadelphia, 
was,  he  said,  among  those  with  the  execution  of 
which  he  had  been  best  satisfied.  I  spoke  of  his 
"  Christ  healing  the  Sick,"  in  the  Hospital  at  Phi 
ladelphia,  remarking  how  highly  it  was  prized ; 
all  the  town  had  flocked  to  see  it.  He  spoke  of  a 
criticism  upon  it  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  pamphlet 
form,  that  had  come  under  his  notice ;  said  it  was 
written  in  a  scholar-like  manner,  and  with  a  per 
fect  knowledge  of  the  subject.  He  knew  not  the 
author,  nor  could  I  inform  him. 

This  eminent  and  venerable  artist,  was  then 
nearly  eighty.  A  native  American,  born  near 
Philadelphia,  he  adverted  to  scenes  of  his  early 


152  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

life.     I  was  enabled  to  understand  some  of  his 
local  allusions.     His  patriarchal  look  and  charac 
ter,  gave  me  something  of  the  filial  feeling.     What 
am  I  to  do,  I  asked,  as  our  conversation  proceed 
ed,  to  be  able  to  judge  of  paintings  ?     Wherever  I 
go,  in  England,  I  meet  with  them  ;    in  palaces, 
private  houses,  every  where ;  engravings  rest  in 
port  folios ;  I  see  nothing  but  the  works  of  your 
art,  and  all  persons  appear  to  have  a  knowledge  of 
them;  I  the  rather  ask,  as  there  is  a  growing 
taste  for  the  arts  in  the  United  States ;  republics 
have  been  celebrated  for  them ;    we  cherish  the 
hope,  that  this  may  be  our  lot.     He  replied,  that 
he  believed  he  could  not  do  better  than  name  to 
me  the  discourses  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.     Those 
productions  I  said,  but  increased  my  despair ;  we 
knew  them  in  Philadelphia ;  I  had  read  them ;  they 
were  ingenious,  profound;  but  what  a  universe 
they  opened — wider  than  the  poet's  in  Rasselas  ; 
it  was  boundless ;  all  kind  of  knowledge  was  ne 
cessary  to  the  painter,  and  could  we,  with  less, 
and  without  superadding  the  practice  of  the  eye, 
become  judges  of  painting  ?     He  agreed  that  the 
art  was  boundless  ;  said  that  he  every  day  saw 
something  to  learn  in  it ;  told  the  anecdote  of  the 
clergyman  who  preached  one  of  Sir  Joshua's  dis 
courses  from  the  pulpit,  omitting  technical  words, 


.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  1 53 

as  a  proof  of  its  foundation  in  the  principles  of 
man's  general  nature,  and  admitted  that  it  could 
only  be  successfully  studied  in  conjunction  with 
practice ;  in  other  words,  that  the  eye  could  not 
gain  a  quick  or  sure  perception  of  beauties  and 
defects,  but  by  familiarity  with  the  best  models. 
I  said  it  was  this  which  gave  to  the  English  their 
facilities ;  foreign  travel  was  so  common  with 
them,  that  they  saw  the  best  models  abroad,  and 
then  kept  the  eye  in  practice  at  home  ;  the  Vati 
can,  the  Louvre,  the  Museum  at  the  Hague,  the 
collections  in  the  Low  Countries,  Spain,  and  else 
where,  persons  whom  you  met  every  day  had  more 
or  less  seen.  It  was  somewhat  the  same  with 
books  of  travels*  If  you  alluded  to  the  latest 
respecting  France,  a  gentleman  by  your  side  had 
been  over  the  ground,  and  knew  more  than  the 
book  told  you ;  if  you  spoke  of  the  Coliseum,  or 
St.  Peters,  half  the  company  had  been  at  Rome  ; 
and  so  of  other  places.  He  replied  that  it  was 
true :  Englishmen  travelled  a  great  deal ;  all  did 
not  bring  back  useful  information  in  the  arts,  but 
so  many  went  abroad,  that  the  number  was  still 
great  who  did;  hence  there  were  more  good 
judges  of  painting  in  England,  than  good  painters  ; 
it  was  rare  to  meet  with  a  person  of  leisure  and 

fortune  who  had  not  visited  Italy  and  France,  if 

20 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818, 

not  more  countries ;  England  also  contained  more 
paintings  than  any  other  country,  not  in  public 
depositories,  for  there  were  none  worth  speaking 
of,  but  in  private  houses ;  the  rich  bought  up  the 
best  upon  the  continent  wherever  to  be  had ;  he 
would  be  glad  to  point  out  the  private  collections 
to  me ;  those  of  Lord  Stafford  and  Lord  Grosve- 
nor  stood  at  the  head,  but  there  were  others  scat 
tered  about  town,  and  all  over  the  country.  He 
invited  me  to  call  whenever  I  had  an  hour  to 
throw  away,  and  saunter  through  his  own  collec 
tion  for  all  that  it  might  be  worth  to  me,  as  he 
said,  adding  that  he  would  saunter  with  me,  being 
always  at  home. 

It  was  thus  that  he  received  and  talked  to  me. 
Once  there  was  a  tear,  that  the  early  recollections 
of  his  native  land  seemed  to  have  drawn  down.  I 
felt  in  his  fame  the  interest  of  a  countryman,  and 
in  his  whole  manner  there  was  a  cordiality  which 
inspired  personal  attachment,  even  in  a  first  inter 
view.  As  often  as  I  saw  him  afterwards,  it  was 
with  renewed  pleasure  and  advantage  ;  but  it  was 
not  long,  before  I  was  summoned  to  bear  his  pall. 

March  27.  We  were  entertained  at  dinner  by 
Mr.  and  Lady  Sarah  Lyttleton.  Mr.  Lyttleton  is 
in  parliament,  and  heir  presumptive  to  Hagley 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  ^55 

with  the  title  of  its  possessor.  I  spoke  of  the  let 
ters  published  under  the  name  of  one  of  his  family. 
He  said  that  it  was  an  admitted  point  that  they 
had  not  been  written  by  Lord  Lyttleton.  Sir 
Humphrey  Davy  was  at  table.  The  newsmen  had 
been  blowing  horns  about  the  streets  on  a  false 
rumour  of  Bonaparte's  death.  "  When  that  hap 
pens,"  said  Sir  Humphrey,  "  Europe  will  fly  up 
compression  being  off"  We  had  also  Lady  Davy, 
Miss  Fanshawe,  Earl  Spencer,  Lord  Folkstone 
and  Mr.  Luttrel.  There  was  a  flow  of  that  kind 
of  conversation  that  gives  charm  to  a  dinner  party, 
our  reception  having  been  as  friendly  as  courteous 
by  this  accomplished  pair. 

March  29.  Dined  at  Lord  Holland's.  His 
lordship  and  Lady  Holland,  the  Marquis  of  Lans- 
downe,  Lord  Morpeth,  Lord  Maitland,  Sir  James 
Macintosh  and  Mr.  Tierney  were  of  the  company. 

Lord  Holland  spoke  of  the  institutions  of  the 
United  States.  Our  system,  he  said,  appeared 
suited  to  our  circumstances ;  he  hoped  that  we 
would  not  put  it  to  risk  by  a  fondness  for  war ; 
but  was  there  no  fear  that  the  excitements  apt  to 
arise  under  popular  forms,  and  the  courage  that 
springs  from  freedom,  might  make  us  prone  to 
war?  I  replied,  that  our  reliance  was  in  the 


156  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

checks  which  our  Constitution  raised  up,  and 
chiefly,  that  the  people,  who  must  suffer  from  war 
and  pay  its  expenses,  were  the  power  who  alone, 
by  their  representathes,  could  declare  it.  He 
bore  testimony  to  the  merit  of  President  Munroe, 
whom  he  had  known  in  personal  and  official  rela 
tions,  saying,  that  in  such  hands  our  republic,  as 
far  as  depended  on  the  chief  magistrate,  might 
always  be  considered  safe. 

I  asked  Sir  James  Macintosh,  when  we  wrere  to 
be  favoured  with  the  history  the  public  had  been 
led  to  hope  he  was  preparing.  He  spoke  doubt 
fully.  Hume  was  mentioned.  He  could  not  al 
ways  agree  with  him,  he  said,  but  commended  the 
general  spirit  of  his  history ;  the  whole  indeed  was 
masterly ;  the  best  portion,  that  which  comprised 
the  reigns  of  the  Tudors,  particularly  Elizabeth's. 
He  spoke  of  Robertson  and  Gibbon ;  both  were 
careful  inquirers  into  facts ;  Gibbon's  research 
was  profound,  but  he  saw  objections  to  his  style. 
He  spoke  of  Franklin's  style  with  nothing  but 
praise  ;  it  was  more  than  pure  ;  it  was  classic ;  it 
was  neither  the  style  of  Addison  nor  Swift ;  it  had 
the  simplicity  of  theirs,  but  an  original  and  grace 
ful  playfulness  not  carried  too  far,  which  neither  of 
the  others  had  in  so  great  a  degree.  Lord  Hol 
land  asked  if  it  could  be  true  that  his  works  and 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J57 

especially  his  style,  were  not  popular  in  the  United 
States ;  he  had  seen  late  publications  seeming  to 
point  that  way.  My  own  knowledge  and  observa 
tion,  I  said,  would  lead  me  to  a  different  conclu 
sion  as  to  the  opinions  and  taste  of  my  country 
men. 

Holland  house,  where  we  dined,  four  miles  from 
London,  is  a  venerable  building.  Among  other 
associations  that  go  with  it,  is  the  name  of  Addi- 
son,  who  lived  here,  after  his  marriage  to  the 
Countess  of  Warwick.  After  dinner,  we  went  into 
the  room  that  had  had  been  his  library.  It  is  now 
Lord  Holland's.  It  is  a  very  long  one.  Addison 
was  not  happy  in  his  marriage,  and  the  jocose 
tradition  of  the  house  is,  that  he  kept  his  bottle  at 
each  end  of  this  room,  so  that  in  his  walks  back 
wards  and  forwards  he  might  take  a  glass  at  each  ! 
It  was  the  room  in  which  he  wrote  his  despatches 
when  secretary  of  state.  The  Spectator  being 
mentioned,  Sir  James  said  that  it  had  lost  its 
value  as  a  book  of  instruction,  but  as  a  standard 
of  style  would  always  last.  I  listened  with  interest 
to  these  and  other  remarks  from  him.  His 
speeches  and  writings,  read  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware  as  those  of  the  Thames,  had  taught  me 
to  regard  his  mind  as  kindred  to  Burke's;  the 
same  elementary  power ;  the  same  application  of 


158  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  philosophy  of  politics  and  jurisprudence  to 
practical  occurrences  ;  the  same  use  of  history, 
never  heavily  but  always  happily  brought  in ;  the 
same  aptitude  for  embellishment,  not  so  gorgeous, 
but  always  chaste ;  the  same  expansion  and  uni 
versality. 

I  resumed  the  topic  of  his  history.  I  said  that 
when  he  got  to  the  American  revolution  we  should 
on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic,  open  his  pages  with 
peculiar  interest ;  that  we  believed  the  full  and 
proper  account  of  it,  had  not  yet  gone  forth  to  the 
world ;  that  among  us,  were  still  left  a  few  who 
were  contemporary  with  it,  whose  minds  were  the 
repositories  of  facts  and  reflections  which,  if  not 
rescued  in  time,  would  perish.  I  instanced,  par 
ticularly,  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  elder  Adams.  The 
life  of  each,  hung  by  a  thread ;  but  their  faculties 
were  unimpaired.  If  he  thought  it  worth  while  to 
embark  in  a  correspondence  with  these  fathers  of 
our  country,  who,  like  himself,  could  have  no  ob 
ject  but  truth,  I  would  be  happy  to  be  the  medium 
of  its  commencement.  Some  light  he  might  hope 
to  glean ;  and  if,  examining  also  for  himself,  he 
should  find  it  the  light  of  truth,  would  it  not  be 
worthy  of  both  nations  to  establish  this  part  of 
their  common  history  on  a  basis  that  both  might 
approve  ?  He  caught  at  the  suggestion  and  fol- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LNODON. 

lowed  it  up  with  inquiries,  saying  he  would  avail 
himself  of  it.  But  it  was  not  acted  upon.  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  omission  arose  from  any  diminished 
sense  of  the  value  of  the  aid  he  would  probahly 
have  derived,  but  other  causes.  His  parliamentary 
engagements  took  up  much  of  his  time ;  those  at 
the  India  College  had  their  claims,  and  shall  I 
add,  as  another  and  natural  hindrance,  the  claims 
of  daily  society  upon  him  in  the  highest  spheres, 
uniting  as  he  did  the  ease  of  the  man  of  the  world 
to  intellectual  stores  attractive  and  inexhaustible. 
Such  men  grow  to  be  favourites  in  these  spheres  in 
London.  Chains  are  thrown  around  them,  not 
easily  to  be  broken. 

The  conversation  from  which  I  have  minuted  a 
small  part,  took  place  after  we  had  risen  from 
dinner,  and  were  in  the  library,  where  coffee  was 
handed.  At  table,  it  was  suited  to  the  moment, 
and  with  the  moment  passing  away.  Of  hospi 
tality  as  dispensed  by  Lord  Holland  I  had  heard ; 
of  its  kindness,  its  elegance.  His  standing  as  a 
peer  is  known  ;  and  not  less,  the  many  attainments 
which  he  makes  subservient  to  the  pleasures  of 
society  and  friendship.  In  his  house,  opulence 
and  refinement  seem  to  lend  their  aids  to  invest 
letters  with  glory.  The  room  in  which  we  dined 
was  richly  ornamented.  I  understood  that  it  had 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

been  painted  and  gilded  as  I  saw,  by  one  of  Lord 
Holland's  ancestors  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  on  the 
occasion  of  a  fete  given  to  Henrietta  his  queen, 
when  she  came  over  from  France. 

I  must  mention  an  incident  at  one  of  the  Holland 
house  dinners,  though  I  was  not  present.  Scott's 
novels  became  a  topic,  a  new  one  being  out.  One 
or  two  of  the  company  expressed  preferences 
among  them.  Before  opinion  had  gone  farther, 
Lady  Holland  proposed  that  each  person  should 
write  down  the  name  of  the  novel  liked  best. 
Paper  and  pencil  were  passed,  and  a  slip  torn  off 
as  each  wrote.  Nine  slips  were  handed  to  her, 
and  each  had  the  name  of  a  different  novel !  a 
happy  illustration  of  the  various  merit  of  this 
fascinating  writer. 

April  1.  Went  to  Deptford  with  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy.  His  carriage  was  at  the  door  when  I  drove 
up  at  an  early  hour  to  his  house.  An  accident 
happening  to  it,  he  took  a  seat  in  mine.  Our  con 
versation  was  chiefly  about  the  United  States,  he 
leading  it  by  his  rapid,  intelligent,  inquiries.  One 
object  of  our  excursion  was  to  see  the  ships  fitting 
out  for  the  polar  voyage.  We  went  on  board  the 
Isabella.  Outside  she  looked  like  any  common 
merchant  vessel,  equipped  for  boisterous  seas,  with 


]SIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON 

the  addition  of  double  planking  round  her  bo  wand 
sides,  to  resist  ice.  The  interior  arrangements 
embraced  whatever  science  could  devise  and  me 
chanical  skill  effect,  to  promote  the  objects  of  the 
expedition  and  comfort  of  the  officers  and  men. 
Flues  for  diffusing  heated  air  through  the  ship, 
nautical  and  philosophical  instruments  of  all  kinds, 
with  a  library  that  seemed  to  contain  the  accounts 
of  all  former  voyages  of  discovery,  were  to  be 
seen.  Parliament,  to  increase  the  zeal  of  the 
officers,  had  included  them  within  the  promise  of 
reward  to  those  who  ascertained  most  nearly  the 
longitude.  After  going  through  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  ship,  we  went  into  the  naval  dock  yard,  and 
afterwards  to  Greenwich  to  see  the  hospital. 

Deptford  is  the  smallest  of  the  English  dock 
yards,  and  we  therefore  saw  but  few  ships  of  war. 
Only  one  of  the  line,  and  three  frigates  were  build 
ing.  There  were  docks  for  repairing  as  well  as 
building.  We  saw  several  royal  yachts  ;  among 
them,  a  very  old  one,  the  same  that  had  conveyed 
Caroline  Matilda,  sister  of  George  III.  to  Denmark, 
on  the  occasion  of  her  marriage  to  the  king  of 
that  country.  The  Danes  sent  it  back  to  England, 
refusing  to  keep  it  after  the  attack  upon  their 
capital,  and  capture  of  their  fleet,  by  Britain,  in 

1801.     Although  this  is  the  smallest  of  the  yards, 

21 


162  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

it  is  not  without  importance,  from  being  so  near 
London.  The  business  of  supplying  the  navy 
with  provisions,  is,  or  until  lately  was,  carried  on 
from  a  depot  adjoining  it.  Sir  Humphrey  spoke  of 
their  excellent  quality,  remarking  how  much  the 
strength  and  courage  of  seamen,  depended  upon 
food.  They  got,  he  said,  bread  and  beef  of  the 
best  quality  and  in  full  quantity ;  an  ample  allow 
ance  of  malt  liquor  ;  wine  and  cocoa,  with  all  other 
things  proper  for  the  sea  ration.  In  the  timber 
piled  up  in  the  yard,  I  observed  mahogany.  The 
commissioner  said  it  was  used  not  merely  for 
decks,  as  in  the  royal  yachts,  some  of  which  ap 
pear  to  be  about  three  hundred  tons  burden  and 
are  magnificently  fitted  up  and  furnished,  but  with 
advantage,  as  knees  and  beams,  in  the  heaviest 
ships.  The  timber  of  all  kinds  on  hand  in  the 
yard,  generally  amounted  to  a  supply  for  three 
years.  It  consisted  of  English  oak  chiefly ;  but 
they  also  got  supplies  of  foreign  timber.  A 
quantity  was  soon  expected  from  the  forests  of 
Croatia  and  Dalmatia,  under  contracts  with  the 
the  government  of  Vienna.  They  also  obtained 
it  from  the  Baltic.  This  they  thought  good,  when 
cut  from  the  southern  shores.  From  their  North 
American  possessions,  they  did  not  get  much, 
except  for  large  masts.  The  attachments  of 


1818  I          COURT  OF  LONDON.  163 

George  III.  to  the  navy  were  spoken  of,  his  feel 
ings  as  monarch  being  seconded,  as  was  said,  by 
a  personal  fondness  for  naval  architecture  and 
affairs  of  the  sea.  He  had  first  evinced  it  in  pro 
moting  the  voyages  of  Byron  and  Cook,  as  soon 
as  he  got  to  the  throne.  It  was  added,  that  at 
Buckingham  palace,  he  was  furnished  with  models 
of  the  dock  yards,  and,  occasionally,  of  the  vessels 
building ;  which  he  took  an  interest  in  examining. 
These  modes  of  exerting  a  superintendence  over 
the  navy,  seem  better  in  themselves,  and,  it  must 
be  owned,  more  befitted  a  sovereign,  than  if  he 
had  turned  ship  carpenter,  like  Peter  of  Russia. 
The  yard  at  Deptford  was  one  of  those  in  which 
that  eccentric  monarch  worked. 

Commissioner  Cunningham  received  us  very 
kindly  at  his  house  within  the  yard.  He  would 
not  allow  us  to  depart  without  partaking  of  a  col 
lation. 

We  proceeded  on  towards  Greenwich.  Going 
through  the  streets,  and  stopping  a  moment,  an 
incident  arrested  my  attention.  A  woman  stood 
at  the  door  of  a  house  where  cheap  refreshments 
were  sold.  Some  labouring  people  passing  along, 
she  called  out  to  ask  if  they  would  take  tea.  It  was 
about  one  o'clock.  Houses  of  this  kind  I  under 
stood  were  not  uncommon  in  London.  I  had 


164  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

myself  observed  tea  sold  in  the  streets,  near  Char 
ing  Cross,  by  huckster  women,  who  obtained  the 
boiling  water  by  means  of  coals  in  a  pan,  or  a 
lamp.  In  a  country  where  the  light  wines  are  not 
produced,  the  first  step  into  temperance  is  small 
beer ;  the  next,  tea.  The  national  schools  in  Eng 
land  have  done  much  towards  meliorating  the  con 
dition  of  her  people.  The  use  of  tea  has  co-ope 
rated,  by  doing  more  of  late  years,  probably,  than 
any  other  physical  cause,  towards  lessening  the 
appetite  for  ardent  spirits.  It  acts  not  so  much 
by  reclaiming  old  drunkards,  as  diminishing  the 
stock  of  new.  What  a  sight,  to  see  this  woman 
beckoning  labouring  men  to  tea,  instead  of  drams  ! 
The  use  of  tea  in  England,  is  universal.  It  is  the 
breakfast  of  the  wealthy  as  of  the  poorer  classes. 
On  passing  to  the  drawing  rooms  from  the  sumptu 
ous  dinner  table,  the  cordial  cup  of  Mocha  coffee  is 
first  brought  in ;  but  after  an  interval,  black  tea  is 
also  served.  A  general  in  the  Duke  of  Welling 
ton's  urmy  told  me,  that  when  worn  down  with 
fatigue,  there  was  nothing  for  which  the  officers  in 
the  Peninsular  war  used  to  call  so  eagerly,  as  tea. 
Servants  in  London  take  it  twice  a  day,  sometimes 
oftener,  and  the  occurrence  at  Greenwich  shows 
the  taste  for  it  to  be  spreading  among  labouring 
classes  at  all  hours. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

We  soon  got  near  the  hospital.  The  day  was 
fine.  I  saw,  as  we  approached,  men  in  uniform — 
a  blue  coat  full  in  front,  flapped  waistcoat,  with 
breeches  and  stockings,  and  three-cornered  hats. 
Until  we  got  near,  a  stranger  might  have  taken 
them  for  an  assemblage  of  old  admirals.  They 
were  the  pensioners — common  seamen.  Some 
were  sunning  themselves  on  seats ;  others  moved 
slowly  about.  I  heard  no  talking  from  any.  Al 
together,  they  had  a  venerable  appearance.  Ar 
rived  within  the  high  palisades  of  iron,  I  was 
struck  with  the  extent  and  grandeur  of  the  build 
ing.  Domes ;  single  and  double  rows  of  columns  ; 
flights  of  solid  steps;  Corinthian  porticos,  met 
the  eye  on  all  sides.  The  whole  was  of  Portland 
stone,  and  on  a  terrace  fronting  the  Thames.  I 
had  heard  that  English  hospitals  were  like  palaces ; 
and  now  the  one  before  me,  far  exceeded  any 
palace  I  had  yet  beheld.  The  interior  corres 
ponded  with  the  outside.  There  was  ample  space, 
the  utmost  neatness,  and  universal  order.  The 
number  of  pensioners  drawing  the  funds  of  the 
institution,  was  more  than  thirty  thousand.  Those 
accommodated  within  the  building,  amounted  to 
about  three  thousand.  A  naval  asylum  for  minors 
is  annexed,  in  which  are  eight  hundred  boys  and 
two  hundred  girls,  children  of  British  seamen,  all 


1(50  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

educated  and  otherwise  provided  for.  Some  of 
the  apartments  of  the  hospital,  as  the  chapel  and 
great  hall,  are  superbly  ornamented.  In  the  first  is 
the  shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,  a  large  painting  by  West, 
which  fills  the  space  over  the  altar,  and  to  which 
you  ascend  by  a  range  of  long  steps  of  black  mar 
ble.  There  are  representations  of  our  Saviour 
stilling  the  tempest  and  walking  upon  the  waves, 
with  various  other  costly  emblems  from  the  pencil 
and  chisel,  having  relation  to  the  sea.  In  the  great 
hall,  the  ceiling  exhibits  paintings  which  years  of 
labouring  art  had  been  necessary  to  perfect,  por 
traying  under  appropriate  allegories,  astronomical 
and  nautical  science,  intermingled  with  insignia  of 
the  naval  glory  of  England.  Probably  no  age  or 
nation  can  show  a  charity  more  splendid ;  the  first 
approach  so  imposing,  the  minute  examination  so 
calculated  to  augment  admiration. 

But,  there  arose  a  reflection  that  I  could  not 
repress.  Many  of  the  veterans  whom  I  saw,  had, 
doubtless,  fought  under  the  compulsion  of  impress 
ment.  As  I  looked  on  their  hoary  locks  and  scar 
red  faces,  I  thought  that  a  country  treating  its 
seamen  thus,  was  bound  to  lodge  them  like  kings 
when  old  or  wounded ;  that,  in  fact,  it  was  only  a 
payment  back,  and  not  adequate,  for  the  previous 
infliction  of  such  a  wrong.  It  is  to  me  an  unac- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

countable  anomaly,  that  a  nation  in  which  indivi 
dual  rights  are  guarded  by  barriers  such  as  no 
other  ever  raised  up,  except  the  nation  in  the  new 
world  that  springs  from  her;  who  would  wade 
through  blood  sooner  than  part  with  her  habeas 
corpus  or  trial  by  jury,  should  yet  sit  calmly  down 
under  this  unjust  and  tyrannical  practice.  It  is 
said  that  her  navy  cannot  otherwise  be  manned. 
Poor  excuse  !  as  if  it  were  not  universally  true,  that 
labour  of  any  kind  can  be  commanded  by  paying 
for  it,  and  of  course  labour  upon  the  ocean,  with 
the  risk  of  battle  and  death  superadded  ;  and  as  if, 
supposing  it  to  cost  ten  times  over  what  would 
ever  be  asked,  it  ought  not  to  be  paid,  sooner  than 
that  such  an  outrage  should  be  committed  !  The 
statesmen,  the  philanthropists,  of  England,  will  at 
last  awake  from  this  dream  of  supposed  necessity 
for  the  press-gang.  It  will  cease,  and  the  wonder 
be  that  any  arguments  for  sustaining  it  could  have 
been  current  so  long.  There  have,  it  is  true,  been 
states  ancient  and  modern  that  have  resorted  to 
force  for  obtaining  military  service;  but  it  has 
generally  been  for  temporary  purposes,  and  where 
this  has  not  been  the  case,  the  states  have  been 
those  in  which  personal  rights  have  been  only 
imperfectly  protected.  The  precedents  are  to  be 
shunned,  not  copied  ;  especially  by  a  nation  whose 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

fundamental  code  looks  to  the  inviolability  of  per 
sonal  liberty  in  a  degree  far  above  that  of  the 
civil  law  of  Rome,  or  any  of  the  codes  of  conti 
nental  Europe  engrafted  upon  that  stock.  I  did 
not  volunteer  my  thoughts  upon  my  English  com 
panion  ;  but  if  I  had,  I  scarcely  think  that  dissent 
would  have  come  from  his  liberal  mind,  accustom 
ed  as  it  was  to  analise  and  reason. 

We  visited  in  the  last  place  the  observatory  at 
Greenwich.  Mr.  Pond,  the  astronomer  royal, 
received  us  in  the  same  hospitable  manner  as 
Commissioner  Cunningham.  We  ascended  to  the 
top  of  the  edifice,  seeing  all  the  astronomical  in 
struments  in  use.  When  chronometers  were  spo 
ken  of,  it  was  stated,  that  the  government  ordered 
twelve  to  be  made  every  year  by  the  best  watch 
makers  in  London.  For  the  one  which  kept  the 
most  accurate  time,  a  premium  was  given  ;  for 
the  next  best,  a  diminished  premium ;  and  the  re 
maining  ten,  if  approved,  were  taken  at  fair  prices. 
All  were  for  the  use  of  the  public  ships.  In  this 
way  competition  was  kept  up,  no  watchmaker 
suffered  loss,  and  the  navy  got  a  supply  of  the  best 
instruments  for  measuring  time  in  all  latitudes. 
The  hour  for  our  return  pressing,  we  hastened  back 
to  town,  after  a  day  which,  to  me,  had  been  one 
of  great  variety  and  interest.  The  secretary  of 


ISIS."]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  159 

legation  and  Captain  Thompson  of  the  navy  of  the 
United  States,  were  of  the  party.  Sir  Humphrey's 
ardour  of  conversation  did  not  abate  going  home. 
It  related  in  part,  to  what  we  had  seen  ;  with  an 
intermixture  of  anecdotes  of  eminent  persons  in 
England. 

April  2.  Dined  at  Prince  Esterhazy's.  Com 
pany — the  diplomatic  corps  and  their  ladies.  The 
dinner  was  one  to  have  been  expected  from  the 
munificence  of  the  entertainer.  Among  a  variety 
of  wines,  we  had  hock.  By  Austrian  connoisseurs 
this  is  not  prized  so  much  on  account  of  its  age, 
as  its  original  quality ;  when  best,  they  think  it 
does  not  improve  after  twelve  or  fifteen  ;  perhaps 
no  wine  does.  The  preference  at  English,  as  at 
foreign  tables  in  London,  is  for  the  light  wines ; 
the  strong,  as  madeira  and  sherry,  are  little  used  ; 
sherry  most.  Generally  it  is  limited  to  a  single 
glass,  after  soup.  With  the  latter,  every  dinner  be 
gins  ;  turbot  and  salmon  follow,  before  the  meats 
are  disclosed  from  under  their  glittering  covers. 
We  had  French  cookery  in  its  perfection,  which  I 
find  universal  at  English  as  foreign  tables.  Mr. 
Morris,  American  minister  in  France  at  the  time  of 
the  revolution,  said,  that  if  the  French  had  revolu 
tionized  the  kitchens  of  Europe  instead  of  its  courts, 

22 


170  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

they  would  have  rendered  a  service  that  no  party 
would  have  called  in  question.  He  was  right. 
Food  simply  roasted  or  boiled,  is  thought  temper 
ance  ;  but  the  French  know  better,  and  that  to 
render  it  simple  as  well  as  savoury,  a  process  more 
artificial  is  required.  Hence  the  made  dishes, 
like  the  light  wines  of  France,  promote  health  and 
cheerfulness.  Oppression  seldom  follows  indul 
gence  in  them ;  gout  as  rarely. 

Talking  with  the  prince  after  coming  out  from 
dinner,  we  spoke  of  the  campaigns  of  Frederick. 
There  is  a  pretty  little  fact  with  which  he  was 
familiar  on  my  allusion  to  it.  After  Berlin  was 
taken  by  the  Austrians  and  Russians,  the  soldiers 
gave  themselves  up  to  plunder.  An  officer  high 
in  rank  was  seen  to  protect  the  palace  at  Potsdam, 
and  would  suffer  nothing  to  be  touched ;  but  asked 
as  a  favour  to  be  allowed  to  take  a  small  picture 
of  Frederick,  and  one  of  his  flutes,  that  he  might 
preserve  them  as  memorials  of  so  great  a  warrior 
and  king.  This  officer  was  Prince  Esterhazy,  a 
relative,  as  I  learned,  of  our  accomplished  host. 

Although  no  political  relations  existed  between 
the  United  States  and  Austria,  I  received  from 
this  her  ambassador  in  London,  invariable  marks 
of  esteem  during  my  residence. 


18X8  ]  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

April  3.  Dined  at  Earl  Bathurst's.  Earl  and 
Countess  Bathurst,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  the  Duke  of  Montrose,  Lord  Lyne- 
doch,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Villiers,  Mrs.  Rush,  Sir  Henry 
Torrens,  General  Maitland,  Mr.  Goulburn,  and  a 
few  others,  were  the  company. 

Conversation  turned  upon  the  United  States; 
their  climate,  government,  productions,  steam 
boats,  and  other  topics.  On  a  question  respecting 
the  width  of  a  river  in  one  of  the  states,  I  was  at 
fault ;  on  which  one  of  the  royal  dukes  put  me 
right.  Both  of  them  spoke  of  our  constitution. 
They  asked  how  the  Senate  and  Supreme  Court 
were  modelled,  not  well  perceiving  the  line  between 
the  national  and  state  authorities  in  matters  of  ju 
dicature.  I  endeavoured  in  a  few  words  to  explain ; 
which  however  was  not  easily  to  be  done  in  a  few 
words ;  and  it  was  no  place  for  dissertation.  The 
colonization  society  was  spoken  of,  and  its  objects 
approved.  Lord  Bathurst  expressed  a  hope  that  it 
might  select  a  better  place  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
than  England  had  done  in  selecting  Sierra  Leone ; 
which  was  known  to  have  proved  unhealthy.  In 
quiries  were  made  as  to  the  amount  of  our  slave 
population,  the  ratio  of  its  increase,  and  others  bear 
ing  on  this  subject.  I  answered  them  with  an  admis 
sion  of  the  general  evil  of  slavery  in  the  United 


172  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

States;  but  added  that  there  were  great  mitigations, 
in  the  good  treatment  of  the  slaves.  To  this  the  ex 
ceptions,  I  said,  were  rare,  and  scarcely  known  at 
all,  among  the  better  classes  of  our  southern  plan 
ters.  The  effect  of  good  treatment  was,  to  diffuse 
in  a  large  degree  content  and  happiness  among 
the  slaves.  Conciliatory  sentiments  towards  the 
United  States  ran  throughout  all  the  conversation. 
At  eleven,  we  left  the  table.  An  hour  passed  in 
the  drawing  rooms,  where  conversation  was  con 
tinued.  All  gave  precedence  to  the  royal  dukes ; 
whilst  from  them,  there  was  urbanity  to  all. 

April  8.  The  Princess  Elizabeth  was  married 
last  evening  to  the  Prince  of  Hesse  Homberg. 
The  cabinet  ministers,  foreign  ambassadors  and 
ministers,  officers  of  the  royal  household,  persons 
in  the  suites  of  the  royal  dukes  and  princesses, 
the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York,  the 
Bishop  of  London,  the  lord  chancellor,  the  lord 
chief  justice  and  a  few  others  were  present.  The 
Prince  Regent  was  not  there,  being  ill.  Our  invi 
tation  was  from  the  Queen,  given  through  the  Earl 
of  Winchelsea,  nearly  three  weeks  before. 

We  got  to  the  palace  at  seven  o'clock.  Pages 
were  on  the  stairs  to  conduct  us  to  the  rooms. 
The  ceremony  took  place  in  the  throne  room. 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  173 

Before  the  throne  was  an  altar  covered  with 
crimson  velvet,  on  which  was  a  profusion  of 
golden  plate.  There  was  a  salver  of  great  size,  on 
which  was  represented  the  Lord's  supper.  The 
company  being  assembled,  the  bridegroom  entered, 
with  his  attendants.  Then  came  the  Queen,  on 
the  arm  of  the  Duke  of  York,  with  the  bride  and 
royal  family.  All  approached  the  altar.  Her 
majesty  sat ;  the  rest  stood.  The  marriage  ser 
vice  was  read  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
The  Duke  of  York  gave  the  bride  away.  The 
whole  was  according  to  the  forms  of  the  church  of 
England,  and  performed  with  great  solemnity.  A 
record  of  the  marriage  was  made.  When  all  was 
finished  the  bride  knelt  before  the  Queen  to  re 
ceive  her  blessing. 

The  consent  of  the  king  (or  regent)  and  privy 
council,  is  necessary  to  the  validity  of  a  royal 
marriage  in  England.  There  is  another  mode, 
where  the  party  intending  to  marry,  and  being  of 
the  male  branch,  is  of  the  age  of  twenty-six.  In 
such  case,  a  record  of  the  intention  on  the  books 
of  the  privy  council  will  authorise  the  marriage  at 
the  expiration  of  a  twelvemonth,  unless  parliament 
interpose  an  objection. 

Soon  after  the  service  was  performed,  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  set  off  for  Windsor,  the  rest  of 


1 74  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  company  remaining.  The  evening  passed  in 
high  ceremony,  without  excluding  social  ease. 
From  the  members  of  the  royal  family,  the  guests 
had  every  measure  of  courtesy  ;  but  the  whola  de 
meanour  of  the  Queen  was  remarkable.  This  vener 
able  personage,  the  head  of  a  large  family,  her  chil 
dren  at  that  moment  clustering  about  her;  the  female 
head  of  a  great  empire — in  the  seventy-sixth  year 
of  her  age — went  the  rounds  of  her  company, 
speaking  to  all ;  no  one  did  she  omit.  There  was 
a  kindliness  in  her  manner,  from  which  time 
had  struck  away  useless  forms.  Around  her  neck 
hung  a  miniature  portrait  of  the  king.  He  was 
absent — scathed  by  the  hand  of  heaven  ;  a  mar 
riage  going  on  in  one  of  his  palaces — he,  the 
lonely,  suffering  tenant  of  another.  But  the  por 
trait  was  a  token  superior  to  a  crown !  It  be 
spoke  the  natural  glory  of  wife  and  mother, 
eclipsing  the  artificial  glory  of  Queen.  For  more 
than  fifty  years  this  royal  pair  had  lived  together 
in  affection.  The  scene  would  have  been  one  of 
interest  in  any  class  of  life.  May  it  not  be  noticed 
on  a  throne  ? 

Tea  was  handed.  The  Queen  continued  to  stand, 
or  move  about  the  rooms.  In  one  was  a  table  of 
refreshments.  I  went  to  it  with  Major  General 
Sir  Henry  Torrens,  an  officer  distinguished  by 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  175 

service  and  wounds,  whose  acquaintance  I  had 
made  at  Lord  Bathurst's.  He  was  of  the  esta 
blishment  of  the  Duke  of  York.  On  the  table  were 
urns  and  tea-kettles  of  fretted  gold.  Sir  Henry 
recommended  me  to  a  glass  of  what  I  supposed 
wine,  in  a  flagon  near  me  ;  but  he  called  it  king's 
cup,  given  only  at  royal  weddings. 

Returning  to  the  chief  rooms,  the  Princess  So 
phia  Matilda  pointed  out  to  Mrs.  Rush  and  myself, 
the  paintings;  also  the  representation  of  a  bird  from 
India  formed  of  precious  stones  so  as  to  resemble 
beautiful  plumage,  with  other  objects  of  curiosity 
or  taste  in  the  palace.  She  did  more — she  spoke 
of  Washington.  She  paid  a  spontaneous  tribute 
to  his  virtues.  None  but  Americans  can  know 
how  this  would  fall  upon  the  heart !  To  hear  his 
immortal  name  pronounced  with  praise  in  a  palace 
of  George  III.,  and  by  a  princess  of  his  family, 
had  a  high  and  touching  value.  Mentioning  this 
princess,  I  add,  that  myself  and  family  afterwards 
experienced  her  obliging  civilities  in  ways  the  re 
membrance  of  which  is  cherished  with  grateful 
pleasure. 

At  ten,  the  company  came  away. 

April  9.     Dined  at  Lord  Bagot's.     We  had  the 
Earl  of  Mount-Edgecumbe,   Lady  Emma  Edge- 


176  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  F1818. 

cumbe,  the  Dutchess  of  Leeds,  the  Countess  of 
Dartmouth,  Mr.  Disbrow,  vice  chamberlain  to  the 
Queen,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  several  members 
of  parliament.  The  conversation  had  frequent 
allusions  to  the  United  States,  their  public  institu 
tions,  and  private  society.  The  royal  marriage 
was  talked  of.  Lord  Mount-Edgecumbe,  who  had 
been  much  an  inmate  of  the  palace,  told  anecdotes 
of  the  Queen  illustrative  of  her  domestic  virtues. 
Another  topic  was,  the  attempt  on  the  life  of  Lord 
Palmerston,  secretary  of  war.  He  was  shot  at 
and  wounded,  going  into  his  office  at  the  horse 
guards,  yesterday.  The  person  who  fired,  was 
supposed  to  be  deranged.  His  acquittal  was  anti 
cipated  on  this  ground,  as  was  the  case  with  Mar 
garet  Nicholson,  and  Hadfield,  who  attempted  to 
assassinate  the  king.  Whether  the  life  of  their 
king,  or  the  lowest  subject  be  struck  at,  let  the 
law  have  its  course,  is  the  cry  in  England.  Their 
code  is  sanguinary ;  but  all  are  bound  by  it,  all 
look  up  to  it.  One  of  the  company  thought  the 
law  too  lenient  upon  these  attempts  to  assassinate 
kings  and  their  ministers ;  they  recurred  too  often  ; 
he  would  punish  the  offender  in  the  persons  of  his 
relatives,  as  well  as  his  own ;  as  had  been  done 
with  the  Ravillacs  and  Damiens  in  France.  This 


1818  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  177 

opinion  found  no  countenance ;  but  it  was  can 
vassed  with  sprightliness. 

After  dinner,  an  evening  party  followed.  We 
had  an  invitation  from  Lord  Bagot  to  visit  him  at 
his  country  estate,  Blithfield ;  and  Lord  Mount- 
Edgecumbe  invited  us  to  his,  near  Plymouth. 


23 


178  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh.  General  negotiation  pro 
posed  on  the  West  India  trade,  Maritime  questions  and 
Impressment.  Nature  of  the  last  question.  The  Slave 
trade.  Offer  of  British  mediation  in  the  affairs  of  the  United 
States  and  Spain.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Wilberforce's — at  the  Earl 
of  Hardwicke's.  Almacs — late  hours — Covent  Garden  The 
atre. 


April  11.  HAD  an  interview  with  Lord  Castle 
reagh.  I  asked  it,  to  apprize  him  of  the  desire  of 
my  government  to  open  negotiations  for  a  general 
treaty  of  commerce  and  arrange  other  matters  of 
importance  to  both  countries. 

It  was  the  wish  of  the  President,  I  said,  to  see 
the  commercial  relations  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  placed  upon  a  basis  broader  and  more  per 
manent,  than  hitherto.  The  existing  convention 
was  not  only  limited  as  to  time,  but  objects ;  the 
period  not  being  remote  when  it  would  expire,  it 
was  desirable  that  the  President  should  know  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  179 

probable  determination  of  his  majesty's  govern 
ment  as  to  forming  one  of  a  different  character ; 
one  which,  if  not  comprehending  all  the  colonies  of 
Great  Britain,  should  at  least  include  those  in 
North  America  and  the  West  Indies.  I  was  aware 
of  her  past  unwillingness  to  treat  of  this,  and  other 
subjects  I  should  name ;  but  had  been  instructed 
to  present  them  anew,  in  the  hope  of  other  views 
prevailing.  In  this  event,  I  was  furnished  with  a 
full  power  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  the  nature  indi 
cated. 

His  lordship  was  candid  in  reply.  He  said,  that 
he  could  hold  out  no  encouragement  towards  a 
treaty  so  comprehensive ;  too  many  interests  hung 
upon  their  colonial  dominion  in  the  quarter  men 
tioned  ;  it  would  operate  like  a  revolution  in  their 
commercial  system ;  but  I  might  be  assured,  that 
the  determination  of  Great  Britain  not  to  bring 
the  trade  of  those  islands  and  colonies  under  such, 
or  any  arrangements  by  treaty,  arose  from  no  un 
friendly  feeling.  It  was  only  continuing  a  policy 
long  established.  Hence,  no  complaints  would  be 
made  if  the  United  States  adopted  countervailing 
measures ;  more  especially  if,  not  being  vindictive, 
they  were  merely  based  upon  fair  competition.  I 
replied,  that  the  latter  was  the  spirit  alone,  in  which 
they  would  be  resorted  to ;  that  as  Great  Britain 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

guarded  her  commercial  interests  very  scrupu 
lously,  and  in  connexion  with  them,  those  of  her 
tonnage,  the  United  States  must  do  the  same. 

This  subject  being  for  the  present  disposed  of, 
I  passed  to  others.  A  time  of  general  peace,  as 
lately  intimated  by  his  lordship,  seemed,  I  said, 
the  proper  time  for  settling  points  which  although 
of  no  immediate  importance,  were  highly  so  in  the 
future.  The  President  was  therefore  desirous  to 
take  advantage  of  it,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
arrange  the  most  important  of  this  description  ; 
such  as,  trade  with  the  colonies  of  enemies  during 
war ;  the  trade  between  colonies  and  the  parent 
country ;  that  from  port  to  port  of  an  enemy ;  the 
list  of  articles  contraband  ;  the  doctrine  of  block 
ade,  and  the  question  of  impressment.  Past  expe 
rience  had  shown  the  tendency  of  conflicting 
opinions  on  these  points,  to  embroil  neutrals  and 
belligerents ;  it  had  been  unhappily  too  much  the 
case  as  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States ;  the  season  when  both  parties  were  free 
from  the  excitements  of  momentary  feeling  or  in 
terest,  was  auspicious  to  attempts  for  adjusting 
them  amicably,  and  I  was  empowered  to  enter 
into  negotiations  upon  them  all. 

His  lordship  replied  by  concurring  in  the  fitness 
of  the  time  to  the  objects  stated.  He  first  spoke  of 


n  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

blockade.  Upon  this  point  he  believed  the  two  go 
vernments  were  agreed,  and  asked  if  they  were  riot  ? 
I  said  that  my  government  was  satisfied  with  the 
definition  of  blockade  adopted  by  England  in  Lord 
St.  Helen's  convention  with  Russia,  of  1801 ;  but 
that  it  was  the  President's  desire  to  have  the  point 
placed  upon  an  exact  footing,  by  compact  between 
the  two  nations.  Not  much  passed  upon  this,  and 
scarcely  any  thing  upon  other  points,  both  of  us 
agreeing,  that  even  if  there  could  be  an  understand 
ing  upon  them  all,  a  treaty  would  be  of  little  value 
that  did  not  also  comprehend  that  of  impressment. 
To  this  question  he  therefore  came,  as  of  absorb 
ing  importance. 

It  is  one,  prominent  in  past  negotiations  between 
the  two  governments.  I  will  therefore,  before  stat 
ing  what  was  said  on  this  first  occasion  of  its  being 
broached  under  my  mission,  offer  some  general 
account  of  it.  It  may  be  understood  by  those  who 
are  not  politicians,  and  its  peculiarity  may  perhaps 
impart  to  it  in  the  eyes  of  such,  some  share  of 
interest.  To  many  of  the  rising  generation  it  is 
also  in  a  great  measure  new,  and  to  be  learned 
only  through  numerous  and  detached  state  papers, 
not  always  at  command,  but  in  the  libraries  of 
public  men. 

Great  Britain,  as  a  measure  of  state  policy,  im- 


182  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

presses  her  seamen  to  serve  on  board  her  ships  of 
war;  in  other  words,  takes  them  by  force.  The 
practice  is  one  with  which  other  nations  have 
nothing  to  do,  as  long  as  it  is  confined  to  British 
seamen,  the  British  dominions,  or  the  decks  of 
British  vessels  upon  the  seas.  It  may  seem  at 
variance  with  the  high  standard  of  personal  rights 
upon  which  her  laws  are  founded  in  other  respects ; 
but  that  consideration  is  wholly  for  herself 

But,  she  claims  the  right  of  searching  the  ves 
sels  of  other  nations  upon  the  high  seas,  for  her 
seamen ;  and  here  begins  the  cause  of  complaint. 
For,  how  can  the  claim  ever  be  enforced  consist 
ently  with  what  is  due  to  other  nations  ? 

Let  the  steps  by  which  the  enforcement  proceeds 
be  attended  to.  A  British  frigate  in  time  of  war 
meets  an  American  merchant  vessel  at  sea,  boards 
her,  and,  under  terror  of  her  guns,  takes  out  one 
of  the  crew.  The  boarding  lieutenant  asserts,  and 
let  it  be  admitted,  believes,  the  man  to  be  a  Briton. 
By  this  proceeding,  the  rules  observed  in  deciding 
upon  any  other  fact  where  individual  or  national 
rights  are  at  stake,  are  overlooked.  The  lieuten 
ant  is  accuser  and  judge.  He  decides  upon  his  own 
view,  instantly.  The  impressed  man  is  forced  into 
the  frigate's  boat,  and  the  case  ends.  There  is 
no  appeal,  no  trial  of  any  kind.  More  impor- 


1818/1  COURT  OF  LNODON.  183 

tant  still,  there  is  no  remedy,  should  it  appear  that 
a  wrong  has  been  committed. 

Different  is  the  mode  of  proceeding  if  an  Ame 
rican  merchant  vessel  be  stopped   and  examined 
at  sea  under  circumstances  subjecting  her  to  sus 
picion  as  prize  of  war.     In  the  latter  case,  the 
boarding  officer  sends  the  vessel  into  port  under 
accusation.      Facts    are  inquired    into    judicial 
ly,  and  both  parties  heard.     Both  have  ample  op 
portunity  of  bringing  forward  proofs.     Should  the 
tribunal   decide   that  no  lawful  cause  of  seizure 
existed,  the  vessel  is  restored,  the  captors  are  an 
swerable  in  damages,  and  there  are  adequate  modes 
of  making  them  pay.     If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
man  seized,  be  in  fact  no  Briton,  the  most  that  he 
can  ever  hope  for  is,  merely  to  be  released.     This 
can  only  take  place  after  he  has  been  kept  an  in 
definite  length  of  time  on  board  the  frigate,  put  to 
duty,  and  perhaps  made  to  fight.     He  may  be  slain 
in  battle.     If  this  fate  does  not  await  him,  his  sub 
sequent  liberation,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  can 
only  be  effected  at  a  distant  day,  and  is  not  certain 
at  last.  He  may  not  be  able  whilst  on  board  the  fri 
gate,  to  obtain  documents  to  show  that  he  is  not  a 
Briton.  He  may  be  transferred  to  some  other  vessel 
of  war.     Even  to  trace  him,  through  a  navy  scat 
tered  over  all  seas,  must  become  to  his  country 


184  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

or  friends  a  difficult,  often  a  hopeless  task.  Should 
the  chances,  multiplied  as  they  are  against  him, 
all  turn  out  in  his  favour,  and  the  order  for  his  dis 
charge  be  finally  obtained,  where  is  his  action  for 
damages ;  where  his  remedy  for  loss  of  liberty  ? 
for  this  outrage,  so  terrible,  upon  all  his  feelings 
and  rights  ?  He  has  none. 

A  claim  so  ex  parte  in  the  whole  enforcement, 
so  intrinsically  open  to  error,  and  the  error  if 
committed  so  fatal,  cannot,  it  should  seem,  rest 
upon  public  law.  The  United  States  say,  that  it 
does  not.  They  have  never  denied  to  Great 
Britain  the  right  of  search.  They  allege  however 
that  this  means  search  for  enemy's  property,  or 
articles  contraband  of  war,  not  search  for  men. 
They  say  that  no  public  code  or  other  adequate 
authority,  has  ever  established  the  latter  as  an  in 
ternational  right.  If  its  -exercise  by  any  other 
state  than  Great  Britain  can  be  shown,  the  in 
stances  are  averred  to  be  too  few,  and  too  devoid 
of  the  evidences  of  general  consent,  to  have  made 
it  part  of  the  law  of  nations.  Troops  indeed,  or 
men  in  the  military  service  of  the  enemy,  may  be 
taken  out  of  a  neutral  vessel  at  sea ;  but  this  is 
wholly  different  from  impressing  seamen. 

Great  Britain  places  her  claim  on  the  ground  of 
natural  allegiance.     She  alleges,  that,  by  a  princi- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

pie  of  universal  law,  a  man  owes  this  kind  of  alle 
giance  to  the  country  of  his  birth.  That  he  never 
can  shake  it  off.  That  as  his  country  protects 
him,  so  it  may  demand  his  services  in  return ; 
especially  in  time  of  war. 

The  United  States  reply,  that  the  principle  of 
natural  allegiance,  however  cherished  by  some 
states,  is  not  universal.  Sir  William  Blackstone 
in  his  commentaries,  so  able  and  masterly  for  the 
most  part,  lays  it  down  as  universal ;  but  he  refers 
for  support,  only  to  the  writers  of  England. 
Puffendorf  holds  that  allegiance  may  be  put  off; 
so  do  Grotius  and  Bynkershoek.  If  we  choose  to 
go  as  far  back  as  the  Justinian  code,  we  shall  there 
find  the  same  doctrine.  The  principle  of  perpetual 
allegiance  may  be  held  sacred  by  Britain  ;  it  may 
be  of  the  highest  practical  importance  under  her 
own  system ;  but  the  United  States  say,  that  its 
operation  should  be  confined  to  her  own  territorial 
dominions,  and  decks  of  her  own  merchant  vessels. 
There  is  scarcely  an  important  principle  of  public 
law  that  has  not,  at  one  time  or  other,  had  place 
in  treaties  among  European  states,  the  better  to 
define  or  regulate  it.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  principles  that  belong  to  maritime  affairs. 
Would  a  right  of  such  concern  to  all  nations  using 

the  sea,  as  a  sovereign's  to  enforce  the  allegiance 

24 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  his  own  subjects  in  neutral  vessels  on  its  broad 
highway,  have  altogether  escaped  notice  in  these 
solemn  instruments  between  states  ?  Yet  it  is 
believed  that  no  treaty  contains  any  thing  in 
relation  to  it. 

The  United  States  have  been  exposed  to  griev 
ances  from  the  exercise  of  this  claim  by  Britain, 
heavier  perhaps  than  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  an  in 
dependent  nation.  It  springs  from  a  cause  rooted 
in  nature,  and  irreversible ;  the  resemblance  of 
their  seamen  to  those  of  England.  Their  language, 
dress,  sea  phraser,  every  thing,  are  alike.  To  dis 
criminate,  is  in  most  cases  impossible.  Of  this, 
the  proof  is  incontestible,  and  here  follows. 

Britain  disavows,  unequivocally,  all  claim  to 
impress  from  American  diips,  any  other  seamen 
than  her  own.  Her  sense  of  justice  would  not 
allow  her  to  set  up  any  pretence  of  claim  to  take 
Americans ;  yet  these  she  unavoidably  does  take, 
and  in  numbers  sufficient  to  surprise  those  not  in 
formed  upon  the  subject. 

From  a  report  made  to  congress  by  the  secretary 
of  state  in  April  1816,  it  appeared,  that  the  im 
pressed  American  seamen  on  board  of  British 
armed  ships  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  of 
1812,  a  war  occasioned  chiefly  by  this  cause, 
amounted  to  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

twenty-two.  Here  is  no  exaggeration.  The  fact 
comes  from  the  archives  of  Britain.  Jt  is  taken 
from  official  lists,  furnished  by  functionaries  of  the 
British  government  to  the  American  agent  for 
prisoners  of  war  in  London.  These  men  had  been 
transferred  from  English  ships  to  English  prisons, 
on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  or  during  its  pro 
gress. 

Furthermore.  Britain,  at  a  former  period,  lib 
erated  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
Americans  who  had  been  impressed  prior  to  the 
month  of  September,  1801.  This  fact  also  rests 
upon  the  authority  of  British  archives,  and  was 
included  in  the  same  report  to  Congress.  On  the 
impressment  of  all  these  Americans,  the  British 
boarding  officers  must  have  believed  they  were 
taking  their  own  subjects ;  else  they  took  them 
knowing  them  to  be  Americans.  Hence  the  dif 
ficulty  not  to  be  surmounted,  of  distinguishing 
American  from  British  seamen. 

What  then  do  we  learn  ?  more  than  TWO  THOU 
SAND  SIX  HUNDRED  AMERICAN  CITIZENS,  Confessedly, 

the  sufferers  under  this  practice !  and  this  by  no 
means  the  whole  list.  All  were  clearly  Americans. 
No  British  seamen,  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  was  ever,  if  impressed,  given  back  again. 
Can  Britain,  whose  pride  and  spirit  have  raised  her 


jgg  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

to  greatness,  and  who  must  know  how  to  respect 
such  qualities  in  other  nations,  can  she  for  a  mo 
ment,  wonder,  that  a  practice  leading  to  such  con 
sequences,  should  excite  the  deepest  sensation  in 
the  United  States  ? 

She  complains,  that  she  is  aggrieved  by  the 
number  of  her  seamen  who  get  into  the  merchant 
service  of  the  United  States,  through  our  naturali 
zation  laws  and  other  causes.  This  takes  from 
her,  she  alleges,  the  right  arm  of  her  defence. 
Without  her  navy,  her  existence,  no  less  than  her 
glory,  might  be  endangered.  It  is  therefore  vital 
to  both,  that,  when  war  comes,  she  should  reclaim 
her  seamen  from  the  vessels  of  a  nation  where 
they  are  so  frequently  found. 

I  have  incidentally  remarked  in  another  place, 
that  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States 
are  less  favourable  to  foreigners  than  is  generally 
supposed,  and  less  than  those  of  some  of  the  prin 
cipal  states  of  Europe.  England  has  statutes, 
unless  recently  repealed,  under  which  foreigners 
serving  only  two  years  in  her  navy,  become  natu 
ralized  ;  which  is  going  much  beyond  any  facilities 
afforded  by  the  United  States.  As  to  other  causes 
that  may  bring  her  seamen  to  their  vessels,  the 
United  States  can  only  reply,  that  they  do  not  en 
tice  them.  Seamen  are  birds  of  passage;  now 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  189 

seen  under  one  flag,  then  another.     Those  of  the 
United  States  sometimes  seek  voluntarily  the  ser 
vice  of  other  nations,  as  those  of  other  nations 
voluntarily  seek  theirs.     The  British  navy,  it  is 
well  known,  is  manned  by  a  large  proportion  of 
foreign    seamen.     Some  go  there  of  their   own 
accord.     The  decks  of  all  nations  show,  more  or 
less,  an  intermingling  of  the  seamen  of  all ;  but 
no  country  is  more  desirous  of  employing  their 
native   seamen   than   the   United  States.      They 
know  the  value  of  British  seamen ;  nevertheless, 
they  prefer   their  own.     And   why   should  it  be 
thought  that  they  have  not  enough  of  their  own, 
as  any  other  country  whose  interests  and  pursuits 
have  long  been  maritime  ?     New  England  alone  is 
more  populous  than  were  the  Dutch  when  their 
sailors  swarmed,  and  carried  terror  to  the  shores  of 
the  Medway ;  and  she  is  as  maritime.     Her  farms 
are  upon  the  ocean,  said  one  of  her  statesmen,  and 
she  gathers  her  harvests  from  every  sea.   How  nume 
rous  her  sailors  were  as  long  ago  as  when  she 
made  part  of  the  British  empire,  British  statistics 
of  that  day  may  attest.     This  great  nursery,  pass 
ing  by  all  other  districts  of  a  country  with  a  vast 
sea   coast,   is   perhaps  sufficient  to  give   to   the 
United  States  as  large  a  stock  of  seamen  as  they 
require.     The  supply,  as  in  other  fields,  meets  the 


190  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  I"  181 8 

demand.     If  ever  interrupted  by  temporary  causes, 
things  soon  return  to  this  their  natural  basis. 

The  United  States  not  only  desire  to  foster  their 
own  seamen,  but  have  gone  farther.  In  the  hope 
of  terminating  the  dissention  about  impressment, 
they  have  shown  a  willingness,  as  the  progress  of 
this  work  will  attest,  to  exclude  British  seamen 
entirely  from  their  service.  They  do  not  desire 
to  hide  the  fact  that  they  come  to  it,  often  in  large 
numbers.  It  is  a  fact  however,  which  British  re 
cords  will  also  attest,  that  the  number  of  British 
seamen  regained  by  impressment  out  of  the  vessels 
of  the  United  States,  falls  far  behind  the  number 
of  Americans  taken  in  their  stead.  Under  this 
view  alone  of  the  practice,  apart  from  all  others, 
the  injury  to  the  United  states  is  greater  than  the 
benefit  to  Britain ;  though  what  American  but 
would  blush  at  the  bare  hinting  of  such  an  argu 
ment  ! 

It  is  not  immaterial  to  remark,  that  impress 
ment,  as  a  measure  merely  under  the  English  laws 
and  as  exercised  only  in  England,  has  a  tendency 
to  drive  her  seamen  into  the  merchant  service  of 
the  United  States  on  the  breaking  out  of  war.  Obe 
dient  as  the  impressed  British  seaman  may  be  to 
discipline,  when  once  on  board  a  man  of  war  of 
his  country,  and  brave  in  battle,  it  is  not  in  human 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  jgj 

nature  that  he  should  like  to  be  impressed.  It  is 
notorious  that  he  does  not.  He  dreads  it.  He 
tries  to  hide  from  the  press-gang.  His  bold  spirit 
would  resist  if  he  could ;  and  sometimes  he  seeks 
foreign  decks  to  get  out  of  the  way. 

There  is  another  heavy  evil  resulting  to  the 
United  States.  The  voyages  of  their  merchant 
vessels  are  sometimes  broken  up  by  impressment ; 
for  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  carry  extra 
hands.  Hence,  when  men  are  taken  out  of  their 
vessels  upon  the  high  seas,  it  may  happen,  and  has 
happened,  that  not  enough  are  left  for  their  safe 
navigation;  and  they  have  been  compelled  to 
make  ports,  other  than  of  their  first  destination. 

The  foregoing  is  an  outline  of  the  question,  in 
its  main  features.  It  may  serve  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  manner  in  which  it  operates  upon  the  United 
States.  As  between  the  two  nations,  it  is  a  ques 
tion  sui  generis.  To  both,  it  is  of  the  last  import 
ance.  The  diplomatic  history  of  the  United  States 
will  show  how  repeated  and  earnest  have  been 
their  endeavours  to  settle  it.  The  joint  mission 
to  London  in  1806,  when  Mr.  Munroe  and  Mr. 
Pinkney  were  our  negotiators,  could  effect  nothing 
on  this  point ;  and  Mr.  King's  effort  in  1803,  suc 
cessful  in  all  other  respects,  was  at  last  frustrated 
by  Great  Britain  insisting  on  reserving  her  right  to 


192  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

impress  within  the  narrow  seas.  To  this  doctrine 
of  the  mare  clausum  of  her  Selden,  in  opposition  to 
the  mare  liberum  of  Grotius,  the  United  States 
were  not  prepared  to  assent.  They  never  can 
assent  to  it. 

I  return  to  my  interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh. 
He  remarked,  that  intrinsic  as  were  the  difficul 
ties  respecting  impressment,  his  desire  was  sincere 
to  see  them  removed ;  and  his  efforts  to  remove 
them,  would  be  given  with  earnestness.  I  assured 
him,  that,  under  all  my  instructions,  my  efforts 
would  be  equally  sincere  and  earnest.  The  con 
versation  proceeded.  We  adverted  to  the  princi 
ples  maintained  by  our  respective  countries.  He 
said,  that  the  abuse  of  the  practice,  for  he  freely 
admitted  its  abuse,  had  been  the  result  of  the  pecu 
liar  state  of  the  world,  all  Europe  having  been  at 
war,  and  America  neutral.  He  did  not  believe 
that  the  desire  to  enforce  their  right  to  the  same 
extent,  would  exist  in  future  ;  or  that  it  would  be 
drawn  into  exercise  at  all,  if  means  could  be  de 
vised  to  keep  their  men  out  of  our  vessels.  I  said, 
that  the  question  never  could  be  put  to  rest  as  long 
as  a  British  naval  officer  was  allowed  to  muster  an 
American  crew  upon  an  American  deck,  to  look 
for  British  seamen.  Besides  the  indignity  of  this, 
so  felt  by  all  America,  the  inevitable  consequences 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  193 

to  which  it  must  lead  of  subjecting  Americans  to 
seizure  instead  of  Britons,  would  preclude  forever 
all  hope  of  adjustment.  The  best  mode  we  could 
devise  of  keeping  British  officers  from  our  vessels 
on  such  errands,  was  that  which  he  had  hinted  at; 
namely,  to  keep  British  seamen  away  altogether. 
This  we  were  desirous  to  do,  as  far  as  in  our  pow 
er.  I  promised  to  furnish  him  with  a  proposal  to 
this  effect ;  and  he,  that  it  should  have  a  liberal 
consideration. 

His  lordship  next  spoke  of  the  slave  trade.  The 
government  of  Great  Britain  felt,  he  said,  an  in 
creasing  desire,  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  should  lend  itself  to  the  measures  of  regu 
lation  going  forward  in  Europe  for  its  extirpation. 
These  were,  mainly,  a  reciprocal  submission  to  the 
right  of  search  for  slaves ;  and  a  limited  number 
of  the  armed  vessels  of  each  of  the  maritime  states, 
to  be  empowered  to  search.  It  was  contemplated 
to  form  out  of  an  association  of  these,  a  species  of 
naval  or  international  police  in  the  African  seas, 
from  which  the  best  effects  were  anticipated.  No 
unusual  structure  or  appearances  in  the  vessels 
searched ;  no  presence  of  irons  or  other  presump 
tions  of  guilty  intention  ;  nothing  but  the  actual 
finding  of  slaves  on  board,  was  to  authorize  a  sei 
zure  and  detention.  Great  Britain  had  lately  urged 

25 


194  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

France  on  this  subject ;  but  her  consent  could  not, 
for  obvious  reasons,  be  made  known,  until  the  mili 
tary  occupation  of  her  territory  ceased.  A  recent 
vote,  however,  in  both  her  chambers,  on  the  princi 
ple  of  abolition,  his  lordship  added,  might  safely 
be  taken  as  a  pledge  of  future  co-operation.  I  re 
plied,  that  I  was  destitute  of  instructions  on  the 
subject,  but  would  inform  my  government  of  all 
that  he  said ;  adding  that  the  United  States  had 
long  been  awake  to  the  evils  of  the  slave  trade ; 
that  they  had  been  the  first  nation  to  abolish  it, 
(unless  Denmark  led  the  way)  and  had  directed 
against  it  the  penalties  of  their  own  laws. 

Before  we  separated,  his  lordship  spoke  of  the 
late  offer  of  Britain,  through  her  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  to  mediate  in  our  affairs  with  Spain.  Al 
though  the  offer  had  been  refused,  he  desired  to 
assure  me,  that  the  refusal  was  taken  in  no  un 
friendly  part ;  the  less,  from  its  conciliatory  man 
ner.  Britain  had  in  like  manner  refused  the 
mediation  of  Russia,  offered  during  the  late  war 
with  the  United  States,  without  any  unfriendly 
feeling  towards  Russia,  or  any  question  of  her  im 
partial  dispositions.  He  was  about  to  say  some 
thing  further  on  the  affairs  of  Spain,  but,  the  hour 
being  late,  deferred  it. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  195 

April  12.  After  my  interview  with  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh  yesterday,  I  dined  at  Mr.  Wilberforce's.' 
Of  the  company,  were  Lord  Teigmnouth,  Lord 
Rocksavage,  Lord  Gambier,  Mr.  Babbington  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Neal,  with  others, 
ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen. 

Many  inquiries  were  made  about  the  United 
States ;  their  commerce,  revenue,  population, 
literature  and  state  of  religion.  A  friendly  spirit 
characterized  the  inquiries  and  remarks.  Mr. 
Wilberforce's  fame  as  a  philanthropist  and  Chris 
tian,  had  been  known  to  me.  His  parliamentary  la 
bours  and  those  of  his  pen,  had  probably  been  more 
diffused  over  the  United  States  than  any  other 
country,  out  of  England.  I  expected  to  find  him 
grave  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  full  of  animation. 
He  led,  without  engrossing,  the  conversation.  His 
manner  gave  point  to  all  that  he  said,  and  in  his 
voice  there  were  peculiarly  eloquent  intonations. 
He  spoke  of  Mr.  Pitt,  with  whom  he  had  been  at 
school.  He  was  remarkable,  he  said,  for  excelling 
in  mathematics ;  there  was  also  this  peculiarity  in 
his  constitution,  that  he  required  a  great  deal  of 
sleep,  seldom  being  able  to  do  with  less  than  ten 
or  eleven  hours  ;  he  would  often  drop  asleep  in 
the  House  of  Commons  ;  once  he  had  known  him 
do  so  at  seven  in  the  evening,  and  sleep  until  day- 


1 95  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

light.  The  ease  with  which  some  persons  wrote, 
and  the  labour  that  composition  cost  others,  were 
spoken  of.  Burke,  Pitt,  Windham,  and  Lord 
Ellenborough,  were  all  great  blotters,  he  said ; 
Burke  had  begun  a  history  of  England,  but  gave 
it  over ;  what  a  mine  of  reflection  it  would  have 
contained,  he  added  ;  Windham's  powers  of  con 
versation,  exceeded,  he  thought,  those  of  Fox,  Pitt, 
and  all  his  contemporaries ;  he  even  went  beyond 
Sheridan  in  wit.  One  of  the  company  mentioned 
the  name  of  a  gentleman  who  had  large  possessions 
in  the  West  Indies.  There  is,  said  Mr.  Wilber- 
force,  in  grammar,  what  they  call  a  disjunctive 
conjunction ;  50  there  is  in  society.  It  is  thus 
with  that  gentleman  and  me,  he  is  so  great  a  slave 
holder ;  but  we  do  very  well  when  we  meet ;  we 
pass  by  topics  upon  which  we  should  not  agree, 
and  exchange  the  small  shot  of  conversation.  The 
income  tax  being  mentioned,  he  remarked,  that 
having  borne  it  once,  they  could  bear  it  again ;  it 
yielded  fifteen  millions  a  year,  which  would  be 
good  for  a  new  loan  of  three  hundred  millions. 

These  things  all  flowed  from  him  very  happily. 
Lord  Teignmouth  and  others,  made  their  contribu 
tions.  We  were  invited  and  arrived  at  an  early 
hour ;  but  it  was  midnight  when  we  got  home,  so 
agreeably  had  the  time  passed.  Most  of  the  com- 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J  97 

pany  were  public  professors  of  religion,  always 
the  more  attractive,  when  in  alliance,  as  on  this 
occasion,  with  genius  and  accomplishments. 

April  13.  Dined  at  the  Earl  of  Hardwicke's. 
Lord  Somers  was  of  the  party.  English  historical 
names  as  met  in  daily  society,  vividly  arrest  the 
attention  of  Americans ;  more,  it  may  be  sup 
posed,  than  that  of  any  other  foreigners.  On  this 
occasion  I  could  not  forget  that  I  was  with  names 
of  renown  in  the  law;  Lord  Hardwicke  being  the 
grandson  of  the  lord  chancellor  of  that  title,  and 
Lord  Somers  a  descendant  of  Lord  Chief  Justice 
Somers.  The  interest  was  heightened  by  portraits 
of  the  two  ancestors  hanging  in  view,  the  families 
having  intermarried.  We  had  also  Lord  and  Lady 
Caledon,  Lady  Somers,  Lady  Catharine  Halket, 
Admiral  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  and  Mr.  Montagu. 

The  conversation  turned  upon  France.  Com 
mendation  was  freely  bestowed.  Before  coming 
to  England,  I  had  adopted  an  impression  that  the 
English  were  not  prone  to  speak  of  the  merits  of 
their  neighbours  on  the  other  side  of  the  channel ; 
but  I  remark  the  contrary  in  the  circles  I  frequent. 
Another  observation  continues  to  force  itself  upon 
me ;  their  taste  for  foreign  things.  Among  the 
embellishments  of  the  table  this  evening,  were 


198  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

beautiful  ornaments  in  silver,  obtained  from  France. 
Although  the  French  take  the  lead  in  many  of  the 
finer  manufactures,  I  had  supposed  that  English 
plate  was  preferred,  from  the  more  copious  use 
and  manufacture  of  it  in  England.  The  French 
use  more  abundantly  the  sumptuous  porcelain. 
The  English  import  that,  in  all  its  variety  and 
costliness  ;  but  French  plate  it  seems  is  also  im 
ported.  So  it  will  always  be  with  nations  that 
are  opulent.  Tired  even  of  their  own  forms  of 
superiority,  they  seek  novelty  from  abroad. 

Sir  Joseph  Yorke  had  been  reading  some  of  the 
official  documents  published  by  Congress  that  treat 
of  our  navy,  and  made  its  condition  the  subject  of 
complimentary  remarks. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  that,  at  entertain 
ments,  there  were  all  the  luxuries  of  the  season. 
In  this  metropolis,  the  remark  might  be  reversed ; 
I  witness  constantly  those  out  of  season ;  as,  at 
this  dinner,  strawberries  and  pine  apples;  re 
calling  the  winter  roses  and  summer  snows  of  the 
Roman  poet ;  (zstivce  nives  hybernce  rosce.  We  had 
also  Tokay,  that  had  been  thirty  years  in  his  lord 
ship's  cellar  ;  and,  better  than  all,  respectful  things 
said  of  our  country,  with  other  attractive  conver 
sation. 


j  g  j  g  -i  COURT  OF  LONDON.  J  QQ 

^n7  16.  We  were  at  Almacs'  last  night. 
The  younger  part  of  the  company  danced.  They 
were  not  the  most  numerous  part.  Statesmen, 
cabinet  ministers  and  their  ladies,  peers,  peeresses 
and  their  daughters,  foreign  ambassadors  and 
others,  were  present.  In  these  circles,  all  ages 
intermingle.  Gibbon,  writing  to  Lord  Sheffield 
from  Paris,  says,  that  Horace  Walpole  gave  him 
a  letter  to  Madame  du  DefFand, "  an  agreeable  young 
lady  of  eighty  two"  who  had  constant  suppers  at 
her  house,  and  the  best  company  in  Paris.  There 
may  be  seen  in  society  in  London,  and  as  part  of 
its  ornaments  too,  ladies  whom  I  should  set  down 
as  not  much  short  of  that  mature  age  !  It  would 
be  doing  injustice  to  the  stronger  sex,  to  suppose 
that  they  retire  from  its  scenes  sooner ;  and  all 
will  agree,  that  where  the  young  never  go  into 
general  society  but  by  the  side  of  those  who  have 
gone  before  them,  the  whole  tone  of  conversation 
and  manners  is  improved. 

We  got  to  Almacs'  after  having  been  at  Covent 
Garden  theatre,  to  see  Miss  O'  Neil's  Bianca.  In 
like  manner,  it  is  after  the  opera,  that  we  go  to  the 
weekly  parties  of  Lady  Castlereagh,  (her  cards  of 
invitation  specifying  that  time,)  where  are  always 
to  be  met  a  large  portion  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  home  and  foreign  society  in  London. 


200  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Neither  the  opera  nor  Covent  Garden  break  up 
until  twelve.  Parties  beginning  so  late,  last  until 
two  and  three  o'clock.  Most  of  those  who  have 
been  at  them,  do  not  rise  until  towards  noon  of 
that  day.  About  two,  commences  the  roll  of  car 
riages  ;  at  six  the  morning  ends ;  then,  scarcely 
sooner,  the  throngs  of  carriages,  with  gentlemen 
and  ladies  on  horseback,  disappear  from  the  streets 
and  parks,  the  hour  of  preparation  for  dinner,  being 
at  hand.  This  is  no  overdrawn  account,  but  the 
daily  routine.  It  seems  strange  that  health  can 
be  preserved  with  such  habits ;  yet  the  men  look 
hale,  the  women  blooming.  Chiefly,  they  are  of  a 
class,  numerous  beyond  all  example  in  England, 
whose  riches  leave  them  at  perfect  leisure ;  but 
mixed  in  with  them,  are  others ;  men  of  affairs, 
whose  duties  are  arduous,  whose  fame  must  be  kept 
up  by  constant  intellectual  exertion— cabinet  minis 
ters,  parliamentary  orators,  even  chancellors  and 
vice  chancellors.  How  these  go  through  it  all, 
seems  more  strange.  It  is  only  by  discipline  and 
firmness  in  the  mind  that  it  can  pass  suddenly  from 
the  distraction  of  such  habits,  to  systematic  and 
laborious  investigations.  This  kind  of  life,  it 
should  be  added,  does  not  continue  throughout 
the  year ;  it  opens,  by  degrees,  in  February,  gets 
to  its  crisis  in  May  or  June,  and  ends  with  July. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  201 

On  the  drop  curtain  at  Covent  Garden,  are 
seen  the  flags  of  nations  with  whom  England  has 
been  at  war.  They  are  in  a  tattered  state,  and 
represented  as  in  subjection  to  England.  That  of 
the  United  States  is  among  them.  The  symbols 
are  not  historically  true  ;  and  if  they  were,  would 
be  misplaced  at  such  an  exhibition.  Foreign 
nations  do  not  take  offence  at  such  things  riow- 
a-days,  and  show  their  good  sense ;  but  the  age 
is  not  remote  when  their  sensibility  was  quicker. 
In  the  time  of  Charles  II.  one  of  the  reasons  given 
by  England  for  a  rupture  with  Holland  was,  that 
a  picture  of  the  burning  of  the  English  ships  at 
Chatham  by  the  Dutch,  was  permitted  to  be  hung 
up  in  the  town  house  at  Amsterdam.  England 
has  fame  enough,  military  and  of  all  kinds,  with 
out  straining  in  small  ways  after  what  does  not 
belong  to  her. 


26 


202  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Wager  of  battle.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Im 
pressment — Course  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  as 
between  Spain  and  her  colonies — Affairs  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain.  Safety  of  diplomatic  correspondence. 
The  drawing  room.  Birth  day  dinner  at  Lord  Castlereagh's. 

April  16.  WENT  to  the  court  of  King's  Bench 
to  hear  the  argument  in  the  case  of  wager  of 
battle.  The  parties  were  present.  Through  the 
courtesy  of  the  judges,  I  had  a  seat  on  the  bench, 
next  to  Mr.  Justice  Bayley.  On  his  left  was  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Ellenborough,  occupying  the  seat  of 
the  Cokes,  the  Hales,  the  Mansfields.  To  the 
left  of  Lord  Ellenborough,  were  Mr.  Justice  Abbot, 
and  Mr.  Justice  Holroyd.  If  at  Lord  Hardwicke's 
I  was  awake  to  the  associations  which  the  great 
legal  names  of  England  call  up,  the  feeling  could 
not  be  less  here.  The  room  was  extremely  full. 
The  case  was  so  remarkable  as  to  have  become  a 
topic  in  society. 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  203 

By  the  ancient  law  of  England,  when  a  person 
was  murdered,  the  nearest  relation  of  the  deceased 
might  bring  what  was  called  an  appeal  of  death, 
against  the  party  accused  of  the  murder.  Under 
this  proceeding,  the  accuser  and  accused,  fought. 
The  weapons  were  clubs.  The  battle  began  at 
sunrise,  and  was  in  presence  of  the  judges  ;  by 
whom  also  all  formalities  were  arranged.  Part  of 
the  oath  was,  that  neither  combatant  wrould  re 
sort  to  witchcraft.  If  the  accused  was  slain,  it 
was  taken  as  a  proof  of  his  guilt ;  if  the  accuser, 
of  his  innocence.  If  the  former  held  out  until 
star-light  that  also  attested  his  innocence.  If 
either  yielded  whilst  able  to  fight,  it  worked  his 
condemnation  and  disgrace.  Those  who  wish  a 
full  description  of  these  curious  proceedings,  may 
seek  it  in  Sully,  or  continental  writers  of  an  earlier 
day,  as  Froisart ;  the  custom  having  been  im 
ported  into  England  by  the  Normans.  The  fore 
going  summary  will  give  a  general  idea  of  it. 

It  was  a  mode  of  trial  for  dark  ages.  Ashford 
the  appellor,  had  accused  Thornton  the  appellee, 
of  the  murder  of  one  of  his  relations,  and  the  latter 
desired  to  fight.  In  the  highest  tribunal  of  the 
most  enlightened  country  in  Europe,  I  was  listen 
ing  to  a  discussion  whether  or  not  this  mode  of 
trial  was  in  force  in  the  nineteenth  century !  It 


204  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

was  difficult  to  persuade  myself  of  the  reality  of 
the  scene.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy's  remark  at  the 
table  of  the  Danish  minister,  was  fresh  in  my 
mind.  Mr.  Chitty,  a  lawyer  of  eminence,  argued 
against  the  right  of  battle.  Mr.  Tindall  had  ar 
gued  on  the  other  side,  on  a  former  day.  Fleta, 
Bracton,  the  Year-Books,  and  other  repositories 
of  ancient  law  were  ransacked.  Abundant  ability 
was  displayed  on  both  sides.  The  greatest  order 
prevailed ;  even  gravity.  The  judges  were  in 
their  robes.  About  seventy  lawyers  sat  in  front 
of  them  ;  all  in  gowns  and  wigs,  listening,  appa 
rently,  with  profound  attention.  Finally,  the  judg 
es  decided  that  trial  by  battle  was  in  force ;  for  it 
had  never,  it  seems,  been  repealed. 

To  repeal  laws,  belongs  to  the  legislature. 
Courts  expound  and  apply  them.  Free  govern 
ment  is  complex  and  works  slowly  ;  tyranny  is 
simple  and  does  its  work  at  once.  An  absurd 
law  may  sleep  in  a  free  code,  because  overlooked ; 
but,  whilst  there,  it  is  the  law.  It  is  so,  I  suppose, 
that  we  must  reason,  to  account  for  the  above 
decision ;  and,  generally,  the  reasoning  would  be 
right.  Yet,  it  might  have  been  thought,  that,  in  a 
case  like  this,  long  disuse  added  to  obvious  absur 
dity,  would  have  worked  the  silent  repeal  of  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  205 

law ;  according  to  the  doctrine  of  disuetude  under 
the  Roman  code. 

In  the  end,  no  battle  was  fought.  A  technical 
flaw  interposed  to  prevent  it,  and  parliament  passed 
a  repealing  statute.  But  the  case  marks  an  inci 
dent  in  English  jurisprudence,  having  come  near 
to  converting  the  court  of  King's  Bench  into  a 
theatre  for  prize  fighting ;  a  ring  for  "  the  fancy," 
as  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  intimated. 

April  18.  Had  an  interview  with  Lord  Castle- 
reagh.  My  object  was,  to  submit  a  proposal  for 
abolishing  impressment.  Its  nature  will  be  seen 
in  the  paper  subjoined.  It  is  not  my  general 
design  to  insert  copies  of  official  papers,  meaning 
to  content  myself,  when  they  come  into  view,  with 
making  known  their  substance  and  results.  But 
there  may  be  exceptions,  and  the  subj.ect  of  im 
pressment  from  its  extraordinary  importance  is 
one.  I  therefore  give  the  paper  in  its  words,  as 
follow  : 

"  Great  Britain  alleging  a  right  to  impress  her 
seamen  out  of  American  vessels  upon  the  high 
seas,  it  follows,  that  whenever  a  mode  can  be 
devised  for  their  previous  exclusion  from  American 
vessels,  the  motive  for  the  practice  must  be  at  an 
end.  It  is  believed  that  this  may  be  effected  by 


206  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

each  nation  imposing  restraints  upon  the  naturali 
zation  of  the  seamen  of  the  other,  and  recipro 
cally  excluding  from  their  service  all  seamen  not 
naturalized.  If  Great  Britain  be  allowed  to  natu 
ralize  American  seamen,  the  United  States  must 
be  allowed  to  naturalize  British  seamen.  Each 
should  be  at  liberty  to  afford  the  same  facilities,  or 
bound  to  interpose  the  same  restraints.  The 
greater  the  difficulty  in  acquiring  the  right  of  citi 
zenship,  the  easier  will  it  be  to  avoid  imposition, 
and  the  more  complete  the  desired  exclusion.  The 
law  of  Congress  of  the  third  of  March  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  thirteen,  of  all  the  provi 
sions  of  which,  Great  Britain  may  command  the 
benefit,  will  prove  how  sincerely  the  United  States 
desire  to  settle  this  controversy  on  conditions  sa 
tisfactory  to  Great  Britain.  By  that  law  it  is 
made  indispensable  for  every  British  subject  who 
may  hereafter  become  a  citizen,  to  reside  five 
years  in  the  United  States  without  intermission, 
and  so  many  guards  are  interposed  to  prevent 
frauds,  that  it  seems  scarcely  possible  they  should 
be  eluded.  No  British  subject  can  be  employed  in 
a  public  or  private  ship  of  the  United  States  unless 
he  produce  to  the  commander  in  the  one  case,  and 
to  the  collector  of  the  port  in  the  other,  a  certified 
copy  of  the  act  by  which  he  became  naturalized. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  207 

A  list  of  the  crew  in  the  case  of  a  private  ship, 
must  be  taken,  certified,  and  recorded  by  the  col 
lector  ;  and  the  consuls  or  commercial  agents  of 
Great  Britain  may  object  to  the  employment  of  a 
seaman,  and  have  the  privilege  of  attending  the 
investigation  relative  to  his  citizenship.  The  com 
mander  of  a  public  ship  receiving  a  person  not  duly 
qualified,  is  to  forfeit  a  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
commander  or  owner  of  a  private  ship,  five  hun 
dred.  It  is  also  made  a  felony  punishable  by  fine 
and  imprisonment,  for  any  person  to  forge  or  coun 
terfeit,  or  to  pass,  or  use,  any  forged  or  counter 
feited  certificate  of  citizenship,  or  to  sell  or  dispose 
of  one.  The  United  States  will  also  be  willing  to 
provide  that  every  British  subject  desiring  to  be 
come  a  citizen,  shall  be  bound  to  appear  in  person 
before  the  proper  tribunal,  once  a  year,  for  the 
term  of  five  years,  until  his  right  shall  be  com 
pleted,  or  adopt  any  other  more  practical  and  sa 
tisfactory  evidence  that  his  residence  within  their 
territory  was  bona  fide  and  uninterrupted,  it  being 
their  sincere  desire  to  employ  their  own  seamen 
only,  and  exclude  British.  By  requiring  five  years 
uninterrupted  residence  as  the  condition  of  citizen 
ship,  it  is  confidently  believed  that,  from  conside 
rations  readily  suggesting  themselves,  few  if  any 
British  seamen  would  be  found  to  take  advantage 


208  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  it.  The  nature  of  a  seaman's  life  stands  oppos 
ed  to  any  other  conclusion.  If,  in  some  instances, 
a  residence  should  be  commenced  with  a  real 
intention,  at  the  time,  of  -submitting  to  this  condi 
tion,  the  presumption  is  strong  that,  at  the  expira- 
rion  of  the  term,  such  a  change  of  habits  and  pros 
pects  would  be  superinduced,  as  to  lead  to  the 
abandonment  forever  of  the  sea  as  an  occupation. 
If  the  proposal  be  accepted,  the  United  States 
would  farther  agree,  that  none  of  the  British  sea 
men  who  might  be  within  their  territory  when  the 
stipulation  to  give  it  effect  was  entered  into,  with 
out  having  already  become  citizens,  should  be  ad 
mitted  into  either  their  public  or  private  ships, 
until  they  had  acquired  the  right,  according  to  all 
the  above  regulations.  In  return  for  them,  a  clear 
and  distinct  provision  to  be  made  by  Great  Britain 
against  impressment  out  of  American  vessels." 

I  accompanied  the  delivery  of  the  paper  with 
renewed  assurances  to  his  lordship,  of  the  Presi 
dent's  desire  to  see  this  cause  of  dissention  forever 
removed,  and  the  expression  of  a  hope  that  Great 
Britain  would  see  in  the  proposal  no  surrender  of 
any  right  or  interest  important  to  her,  whilst  its 
acceptance  would  guard  the  United  States  against 
wrongs  that  were  palpable.  He  replied,  that  he 
would  lay  the  proposal  before  the  cabinet ;  that  it 


1318  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  2Q9 

should  have  all  the  consideration  due  to  its  import 
ance,  and,  I  might  be  assured,  in  a  conciliatory 
spirit. 

Leaving  this  subject  in  his  hands,  I  reminded 
him  of  his  intention  to  speak  on  Spanish  affairs. 
He  resumed  the  thread.  Great  Britain,  he  said, 
lamented  the  long  continuance  of  the  contest  be 
tween  Spain  and  her  colonies  ;  she  had  done  all 
in  her  power  to  heal  it ;  she  would  not  relinquish 
her  efforts,  always  desiring  that  Spain  should 
pursue  a  liberal,  not  a  narrow  or  exclusive  course ; 
he  meant,  a  course  that  would  look  largely  to  the 
commercial  emancipation  of  the  colonies;  in  par 
ticular,  she  would  not  be  instrumental  to  a  settle 
ment  of  the  contest  upon  terms  which,  drawing  to 
herself  peculiar  advantages,  would  exclude  the 
United  States,  or  any  other  nation,  from  a  just 
participation  in  the  trade  of  South  America.  He 
hoped  he  might  hear  from  me,  that  the  United 
States  would  be  governed  by  similar  principles. 

I  replied,  that  they  were  the  principles  which  had 
invariably  governed  the  United  States.  They 
desired,  as  ardently  as  Great  Britain,  the  termina 
tion  of  this  contest.  They  considered  it  in  the 
light  of  a  civil  war,  injurious  to  other  nations,  and, 
from  geographical  and  other  causes,  especially 

injurious  to  the  United  States.     The  latter  did 

27 


210  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

not  lend  aid  to  either  party,  in  men,  money,  or 
ships.  Spain  made  complaints;  but  they  were 
unfounded.  The  United  States  maintained  as 
strict  a  neutrality  as  was  possible;  they  consi 
dered  each  party  as  having  all  the  rights  of  war  as 
between  themselves,  and  as  against  other  powers ; 
if  any  of  their  seafaring  or  other  population  gave 
illegal  aid  to  either  party,  they  did  it  at  their  peril ; 
they  were  subject  to  belligerent  capture  by  the 
party  injured,  and  to  prosecution  under  the  laws 
of  the  United  States ;  who,  the  better  to  enforce 
neutral  conduct  upon  their  citizens,  had  special 
statutes  annexing  penalties  to  a  departure  from  it ; 
if  the  colonies  finally  prevailed,  the  United  States 
not  only  did  not  seek,  but  would  not,  by  treaties 
or  other  compacts,  accept,  any  exclusive  advan 
tages  ;  these  they  know  would  create  jealousy  in 
other  nations ;  all  that  they  desired  was,  fair  com 
petition.  Such  were  the  maxims  of  the  United 
States ;  they  had  been  made  known  to  the  world, 
and  there  was  no  reason  to  think  they  would  be 
departed  from. 

His  lordship  asked  if  I  knew  whether  my  go 
vernment  had  given  notice  to  Spain  of  its  inten 
tion  to  take  possession  of  Amelia  island.  I  said 
that  I  did  not ;  nor  did  I  know  that  it  would  have 
been  practicable.  That  island  had  been  taken,  not 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  211 

from  Spain,  but  those  who  had  previously  wrested 
it  from  her.  It  adjoined  territories  of  the  Union  ; 
an  expedition  had  been  set  on  foot  against  it, 
ostensibly  by  the  public  enemies  of  Spain,  viz. 
some  of  her  colonies  warring  against  her ;  but,  in 
fact,  by  an  irregular  force  from  all  countries,  with 
such  aid  as  could  clandestinely  be  drawn  from  the 
United  States  in  spite  of  prohibitory  statutes. 
This  force  took  the  island,  and  the  Spanish  autho 
rities  at  the  Havanna  strove,  but  without  success, 
to  get  it  back.  It  became  a  rendezvous  for  free 
booters,  smugglers,  renegado  slaves,  and  an  entre 
pot  for  fresh  slaves  from  Africa.  To  put  a  stop  to 
these,  and  other  enormities  upon  their  border,  the 
United  States  sent  a  small  naval  and  military  force 
to  take  possession  of  the  island.  They  held  it 
subject  to  a  proper  accountability  to  those  best 
entitled  to  call  upon  them,  not  doubting  that  the 
world  would  see  in  the  measure  nothing  beyond  a 
necessary  precaution  for  the  security  of  their 
commerce,  and  maintaining  the  authority  of  their 
laws.  His  lordship  assented  to  the  strength  of 
these  motives. 

He  inquired,  lastly,  if  I  was  acquainted  with  the 
intentions  of  my  government  as  to  the  reception  of 
deputies  from  the  colonies  of  Spain. 

I  replied,  that  up  to  the  time  of  my  leaving 


212  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Washington,  no  representatives  of  the  colonies  had 
been  received  in  any  official  capacity.  Informal 
agents  had  arrived,  and  been  informally  listened  to. 
Spain  complained  of  this,  and  had  even  demanded 
that  the  United  States  should  exclude  from  their 
ports  the  flags  of  Mexico,  Carthagena,  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  other  provinces  in  resistance.  The 
demand  was  thought  unreasonable,  especially 
whilst  the  United  States  had,  as  they  conceived, 
long  and  just  causes  of  complaint  against  Spain. 
Some  of  these  I  recapitulated.  1.  Questions  of 
territory,  growing  out  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana 
from  France,  by  the  United  States,  in  regard  to 
which  Spain  still  failed  to  do  them  justice.  2.  Her 
sudden  and  violent  interruption  of  the  trade  of  the 
United  States  descending  the  Mississippi,  by  cut 
ting  off  the  right  of  deposite  at  New  Orleans,  be 
fore  Louisiana  belonged  to  the  United  States.  3. 
Her  neglect  to  award  compensation  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  for  spoliations  during  the 
wars  of  the  French  revolution,  although  a  treaty 
had  attested  their  title  to  it — a  treaty  signed  by 
her  own  minister  at  Madrid,  but  from  which  her 
government  withheld  its  ratification.  These  things 
I  brought  into  view,  not  in  the  expectation  of  any 
opinion  upon  them  from  Lord  Castlereagh,  but 
that  the  forbearing  policy  of  the  United  States 


]818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  213 

towards  Spain  might  be  the  better  appreciated. 
His  lordship  expressed  a  hope,  that  all  our  differ 
ences  with  that  power  might  be  satisfactorily  ac 
commodated.  I  joined  in  the  hope,  saying,  that 
the  desire  of  my  government  not  to  disturb  the 
general  peace,  was  steady  and  sincere,  and  that  it 
would  leave  nothing  undone  in  the  way  of  further 
negotiations,  earnest  as  had  been  the  past. 

April  21.  Count called  on  me.  He  had 

requested  an  interview. 

After  a  few  introductory  words,  he  asked  if  1 
was  aware  that  the  English  government  watched 
foreign  ministers.  I  asked,  how?  He  said,  by 
having  persons  in  its  service.  Watched  them  in 
what  ways  ?  In  all  ways  ;  was  I  sure  of  my  ser 
vants  ;  did  I  lock  up  my  manuscripts  ;  did  I  send 
my  letters  through  the  post  office  ?  I  said  yes,  as 
to  the  two  last ;  and  as  to  my  servants,  I  hired 
them  as  others  did,  after  learning  their  characters. 
Was  I  sure  they  were  not  in  secret  pay  ?  Not  sure 
I  said ;  did  he  know  it  ?  Not  positively  ;  he  could 
bring  no  proof ;  it  was  a  business  that  kept  proof 
out  of  sight.  Had  he  heard  anything  I  asked  ? 
JVo,  but  he  had  been  long  in  London  and  heard 
much  on  this  subject  ;  the  government  with  an  out 
side  of  candor,  knew  how  to  work  under  ground  \ 


214  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

it  thence  became  an  adept  in  intrigue  by  seeming  to 
be  open.  But  would  he  let  me  into  the  grounds 
of  his  suspicion  in  my  case;  what  whispers  were 
there?  History  enlightened  us  much,  he  said;  did 
not  Walpole  expend  a  million  in  secret  service  money 
— had  the  English  government  so  changed  since,  as 
to  be  above  all  similar  practices  ? 

I  replied  that  little  would  be  gained  by  watching 
me.  My  government  wras  not  one  of  mystery. 
Those  in  its  service,  had  to  act  and  write,  under 
the  responsibility  of  publication  at  home ;  their 
secrets  would  thus  come  back  to  England,  more 
fully  than  servants,  or  the  post  office,  could  detail 
them,  Nevertheless,  he  rejoined,  the  American 
and  Russian  legations  were  the  two  most  watched ; 
he  believed  so,  and  desired  to  render  me  a  service 
by  putting  me  on  my  guard.  I  thanked  him,  but 
said  I  was  slow  to  believe.  The  English  govern 
ment  had  its  faults ;  but  not  of  that  kind.  Why 
not  ?  Because  it  was  against  the  genius  of  the 
government  and  people ;  they  publicly  debated  all 
that  they  did,  and  printed  all  that  they  said  ; 
twenty  folios  would  scarcely  contain  the  matter  an 
nually  sent  forth  by  parliament  about  their  finances, 
trade,  foreign  relations,  army,  navy,  every  thing; 
into  their  public  offices,  any  one  might  go ;  into 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  215 

their  barracks,  arsenals,  or  any  other  depot. 
Their  press  was  every  where,  ferreting  out  every 
thing.  But  what  did  all  that  prove  ?  Nothing  I 
said,  if  he  had  special  facts  to  make  good  his 
suspicion;  but,  in  the  absence  of  them,  it  led 
towards*  the  conclusion,  that  a  nation  so  careless 
of  concealment  in  its  own  affairs,  would  be  little 
inclined  to  bribe  the  servants  of  a  foreign  minister. 
What  then  had  Walpole  done  with  his  million 
sterling  ?  That  was  more  than  I  could  say  ;  every 
government,  however  open,  had  a  secret  fund  ;  the 
government  of  the  United  States  had  one  ;  some 
of  Wai  pole's  went  to  pay  newspapers  we  were 
told,  which  would  be  foolish  in  these  days,  if  not 
in  his. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  changed  the  opinions  of 
my  visitant.  He  spoke  on  other  subjects  and  left 
me,  after  having  stayed  an  hour. 

April  23.  Went  to  the  drawing-room.  We 
had  the  hoops  and  plumes  as  before ;  the  same 
spectacle  in  the  hall,  up-stairs,  and  going  to  the 
palace.  It  was  one  to  bear  repeating.  The  com 
pany  was  even  more  numerous ;  and  it  proved, 
shall  I  add,  the  last  of  the  hoops  ? 

The  queen  sat  on  a  velvet  elevation,  as  at 
the  drawing  room  in  February.  I  stood  next 


216  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

to  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  a  few  feet  from  her.    He 
named  to   me    those    who    passed  along.     The 
anxious  countenances  as  the  line  slowly  advanced  ; 
the  variegated  and  brilliant  dresses ;  the  silence — 
increasing   as   the   moment   of  presentation   ap 
proached  \  the  graceful  timidity  when  at  last  the 
youthful  fair  curtsied  before  the  Queen,  gave  to 
this  real  scene  whatever  imagination  might  picture. 
Close  by  me  was  the  Duke  of  Bourbon, — pale, — si 
lent, — accustomed  to  Chantilly, — to  Versailles, — 
even  he  stood  gazing  in  admiration.   It  was  the  fine 
sensibility  of  aConde,  touched  by  the  female  beauty 
of  England.     Pensive   though    placid,  it  seemed, 
even  at  such  a  time,  as  if  the  remembrance  of  his 
son,  the  duke  d'Enghien,  was  stealing   into  his 
thoughts.     Among  the  attractions  of  the  day  were, 
Lady  Elizabeth  Levison  Gower,  Miss  Seymour, 
Lady  Georgiana  Fane,  Lady  Emily  Bathurst.     It 
was  their  first  presentation  at  court.     The  Queen 
cordially  welcomed  them,  dispensing  her  accus 
tomed  kindness. 

This  was  also  a  birth  day  drawing  room,  in 
honor  of  the  Prince  Regent,  whose  birth  day, 
however,  comes  in  August,  but  is  not  then  cele 
brated.  The  conjecture  ran  that  not  fewer  than 
two  thousand  persons  were  present.  We  got 
down  stairs  as  we  could,  through  tulle>  gold  net, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  217 

the   hoops,    and   other   glittering   entanglements 
which  beauty  threw  in  the  way. 

In  the  evening,  Lord  Castlereagh  gave  a  grand 
dinner.  He  was  himself  unwell,  and  not  at 
table.  His  brother,  Lord  Stewart,  did  the  honors. 
At  the  foot,  were  the  earl  of  Clanwilliam  and 
Mr.  Planta ;  the  former,  private  secretary  of 
Lord  Castlereagh,  the  latter  under  secretary  of 
state ;  both  enjoying  his  confidence  and  esteem. 
Lord  Stewart  gave  the  Prince  Regent  as  a  toast. 
The  company  rose  as  they  drank  it.  A  few 
minutes  afterwards,  prince  Esterhazy  gave  Lord 
Castlereagh,  which  was  received  in  like  manner. 
In  each  case  the  name  alone  was  mentioned. 
Among  a  great  variety  of  wines,  there  was  dry 
champagne  non  mousseux,  said  to  have  been  the 
favourite  wine  of  Napoleon;  also  Tokay  a  pre 
sent  to  Lord  Castlereagh  from  one  of  the  crowned 
heads. 

*****  said  to  me  at  this  dinner,  that  he  be 
lieved  the  United  States  might  obtain  an  island  in 
the  Mediterranean  if  desired.  I  said,  that  our  in-  j 
terests  were  not  European.  Did  we  not  keep  a 
squadron  there,  he  asked  ?  I  replied  that  we  did  ; 
only  however  to  guard  our  commerce  from  African 
pirates.  How  long  would  we  continue  that  pol 
icy  ?  Always,  I  remarked,  rather  than  pay  tribute. 

28 


218  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

Had  we  no  treaty  with  Algiers  by  which  our  com 
merce  was  to  go  free,  without  tribute  ?  Yes  ;  but 
the  Dey  gave  us  to  understand,  what  might  have 
been  inferred,  that  he  would  abide  by  it  no  longer 
than  he  could  help  it ;  he  had  signed  the  treaty 
to  save  his  fleet  from  attack  in  his  harbour ;  an 
enterprise  that  had  been  resolved  upon  by  the 
United  States,  prior  to  Lord  Exmouth's  bombard 
ment  of  his  town  ;  from  that  time  we  had  kept  a 
naval  force  in  the  Mediterranean,  strong  enough 
as  was  believed  to  check  his.  Then,  would  not 
this  policy  make  it  desirable  to  have  a  station  for 
our  ships,  and  for  supplies  ?  I  replied,  that  our 
squadron  readily  obtained  supplies  from  friendly 
ports,  paying  in  specie  which  it  took  out,  or  bills 
on  London  ;  was  not  this  safer  than  to  run  the 
risk  of  exciting  jealousy,  perhaps  of  exposing  our 
purpose  itself  to  frustration,  by  attempts  to  get 
footing  in  the  Mediterranean?  He  said  that  he 
was  under  the  belief  that  we  might  obtain  Lam- 
pedosa  in  a  manner  to  avoid  objection ;  he  meant 
the  use  and  occupation  of  that  island,  Naples  re 
taining  the  sovereignty  over  it.  To  such  a  trans 
fer  he  did  not  see  that  Spain,  England,  France,  or 
any  power,  could  object.  That  might  change,  I 
said,  some  aspects  of  the  question ;  still  there 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  219 

might  be  stumbling-blocks.     Here  our  conversa 
tion  closed. 

After  we  came  out  from  dinner,  into  the  draw 
ing  rooms,  Baron  de  Gerning,  attached  to  the 
suite  of  the  Prince  of  Hesse  Homberg,  spoke  to 
me  of  the  great  and  good  Washington.  So  he 
called  him.  The  United  States  were  far  removed 
he  said,  from  his  part  of  Germany ;  but  virtue 
was  of  all  countries,  and  all  revered  it  in  the  illus 
trious  founder  of  mine.  I  had  conversation  with 
Admiral  Van  der  Cappellan,  who  commanded  so 
ably  the  Dutch  ships  that  fought  with  Lord  Ex- 
mouth  at  Algiers.  He  had  been  on  board  the 
United  States  squadron  in  the  Mediterranean, 
under  Commodore  Chauncey.  There  was,  he  said, 
throughout  every  part  of  it,  a  discipline  and  com 
pleteness  that  excited  his  admiration.  It  is  always 
grateful  to  hear  the  things  of  one's  country  so  spo 
ken  of  abroad. 


220  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  Daily  Press.  Annual  Exhibition  at  the  Royal  Academy. 
Public  societies.  Dinner  at  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne's. 
Evening  entertainment  at  Carlton  House.  Dinner  at  Dr. 
Pinckard's. 


April  29.  A  COUNTRY  is  not  to  be  understood 
by  a  few  months  residence  in  it.  So  many  com 
ponent  parts  go  to  make  up  the  grand  total,  where 
civilization,  and  freedom,  and  power,  are  on  a 
large  scale,  that  the  judgment  gets  perplexed.  It 
pauses  for  re-examination.  It  must  be  slow  in 
coming  to  conclusions,  if  it  would  be  right.  Of 
ten  it  must  change  them.  A  member  of  the  diplo 
matic  corps,  an  enlightened  observer,  said  to  me 
a  few  days  ago,  that,  at  the  end  of  his  first  year, 
he  thought  he  knew  England  very  well;  when 
the  third  year  had  gone  by,  he  began  to  have 
doubts ;  and  that  now,  after  a  still  longer  time,  his 
opinions  were  more  unsettled  than  ever.  Some  he 
had  changed  entirely ;  others  had  undergone  mo- 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  221 

dification,  and  he  knew  not  what  fate  was  before 
the  rest. 

There  was  reason  in  his  remark.  If  it  be  not 
contradictory,  I  would  say,  that  he  showed  his 
good  judgment  in  appearing  to  have  at  present  no 
judgment  at  all.  The  stranger  sees  in  England, 
prosperity  the  most  amazing,  with  what  seems  to 
strike  at  the  root  of  all  prosperity.  He  sees  the 
most  profuse  expenditure,  not  by  the  nobles  alone, 
but  large  classes  besides ;  and,  throughout  classes 
far  larger,  the  most  resolute  industry  supplying  its 
demands  and  repairing  its  waste  ;  taxation  strained 
to  the  utmost,  with  an  ability  unparalleled  to  meet 
it ;  pauperism  that  is  startling,  with  public  and 
private  charity  munificent  and  unfailing,  to  feed, 
clothe,  and  house  it ;  the  boldest  freedom,  with 
submission  to  law ;  ignorance  and  crime  so  widely 
diffused  as  to  appal,  with  genius,  and  learning, 
and  virtue  to  reassure ;  intestine  commotions  per 
petually  predicted,  and  never  happening ;  constant 
complaints  of  poverty  and  suffering,  with  constant 
increase  in  aggregate  wealth  and  power.  These 
are  some  of  the  anomalies  which  he  sees.  How  is 
he  then  at  once  to  pass  upon  them  all  ?  he,  a 
stranger,  when  the  foremost  of  the  natives  in 
knowledge  and  intelligence,  do  nothing  but  differ 
after  studying  them  a  life-time  ! 


222  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

One  of  the  things  that  strike  me  most,  is  their 
press.  I  live  north  of  Portman  square,  nearly 
three  miles  from  the  House  of  Commons.  By  nine 
in  the  morning,  the  newspapers  are  on  my  break 
fast  table,  containing  the  debate  of  the  preceding 
night.  This  is  the  case,  though  it  may  have  lasted 
until  one,  two,  or  three  in  the  morning.  There  is 
no  disappointment ;  hardly  a  typographical  error. 
The  speeches  on  both  sides  are  given  with  like 
care  and  fulness ;  a  mere  rule  of  justice  to  be  sure, 
without  which  the  paper  would  have  no  credit ; 
but  fit  to  be  mentioned  where  party  feeling  always 
runs  as  high  as  in  England. 

This  promptitude  is  the  result  of  what  alone 
could  produce  it ;  an  unlimited  command  of  sub 
divided  labour  of  the  hand  and  mind.  The  pro 
prietors  of  the  great  newspapers,  employ  as  many 
stenographers  as  they  want.  One  stays  until  his 
sheet  is  full ;  he  proceeds  with  it  to  the  printing 
office,  where  he  is  soon  followed  by  another  with 
his ;  and  so  on,  until  the  last  arrives.  Thus  the 
debate  as  it  advances  is  in  progress  of  printing, 
and  when  finished,  is  all  in  type  but  the  last  part. 
Sometimes  it  will  occupy  twelve  and  fourteen 
broad,  closely-printed,  columns.  The  proprietors 
enlist  the  most  able  pens  for  editorial  articles  ;  and 
as  correspondents,  from  different  parts  of  Europe. 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  223 

Their  pecuniary  ability  to  do  so,  may  be  judged 
of  from  the  fact,  that  the  leading  papers  pay  to  the 
government   an   annual   tax   in   stamps,  of  from 
twenty  to  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling.     I  have 
been  told  that  some  of  them  yield  a  profit  of  fifteen 
thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year,  after  paying  this 
tax,  and  all  expenses.     The  profits  of  the  "  The 
Times"  are  said  to  have  exceeded  eighteen  thou 
sand  a  year.     The  cost  of  a  daily  paper  to  a  regu 
lar  subscriber,  is  about  ten  pounds  sterling  a  year ; 
but   subdivision  comes  in  to  make  them  cheap. 
They  are  circulated  by  agents  at  a  penny  an  hour 
in  London.     When  a  few  days  old  they  are  sent 
to  the  provincial  towns,  and  through  the  country, 
at  reduced  prices.     In  this  manner,  the  parliamen 
tary  debates  and  proceedings,  impartially  and  fully 
reported,  go  through  the  nation.     The  newspaper 
sheet  is  suited  to  all  this  service,  being  large,  the 
paper  substantial,  and  type  good.     Nothing  can 
exceed  the  despatch  with  which   the   numerous 
impressions  are  worked  off,  the  mechanical  ope 
rations  having  reached  a  perfection  calculated  to 
astonish  those  who  would  examine  them. 

What  is  done  in  the  courts  of  law,  is  dissemi 
nated  in  the  same  way.  Every  argument,  trial, 
and  decision,  of  whatever  nature,  or  before  what 
ever  court,  goes  immediately  into  the  newspapers. 


224  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

There  is  no  delay.  The  following  morning  ushers 
it  forth.  I  took  the  liberty  of  remarking  to  one 
of  the  judges,  upon  the  smallness  of  the  rooms  in 
which  the  courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Chancery 
sit,  when  the  proceedings  were  so  interesting  that 
great  numbers  of  the  public  would  like  to  hear 
them.  "  We  sit"  said  he,  "  every  day  in  the  news 
papers."  How  much  did  that  answer  comprehend  ! 
what  an  increase  of  responsibility  in  the  judge ! 
I  understood,  from  a  source  not  less  high,  that  the 
newspapers  are  to  be  as  much  relied  upon,  as  the 
books  of  law  reports  in  which  the  cases  are  after 
wards  published;  that,  in  fact,  the  newpsaper 
report  is  apt  to  be  the  best,  being  generally  the 
most  full,  as  well  as  quite  accurate.  If  not  the 
latter,  the  newspaper  giving  it  would  soon  fall  into 
disrepute,  and  give  way  to  more  accurate  competi 
tors.  Hence,  he  who  keeps  his  daily  London  paper, 
has,  at  the  year's  end,  a  volume  of  the  annual  law- 
reports  of  the  kingdom,  besides  all  other  matter  ; 
and  what  variety,  what  entertainment,  what  a 
power  of  original  discussion  and  anecdote,  does 
every  paper  contain  ? 

In  the  discussions,  editorial  as  otherwise,  there 
is  a  remarkable  fearlessness.  Things  that  in 
Junius's  time  would  have  put  London  in  a  flame, 
pass  almost  daily  without  notice.  Neither  the 


18181  COURT  OF  LONDON.  225 

sovereign  nor  his  family  are  spared.  Parlia 
ment  sets  the  example,  and  the  newspapers 
follow.  Of  this,  the  debates  on  the  royal  mar 
riages  in  the  course  of  the  present  month,  give 
illustrations.  There  are  countries  in  which  the 
press  is  more  free,  by  law,  than  with  the  English ; 
for  although  they  impose  no  previous  restraints, 
their  definition  of  libel  is  so  loose,  that  a  jury 
may  make  one  out  of  almost  any  thing  ;  but  per 
haps  no  where  has  the  press,  in  point  of  fact,  so 
much  latitude. 

Every  thing  goes  into  the  nawspapers.  In  other 
countries,  matter  of  a  public  nature  may  be  seen 
in  them ;  here,  in  addition,  you  see  perpetually 
the  concerns  of  individuals.  Does  a  private 
gentleman  come  to  town  ?  you  hear  it  in  the 
newspapers ;  does  he  build  a  house,  or  buy  an 
estate  ?  they  give  the  information ;  does  he  en 
tertain  his  friends ;  you  have  all  their  names  next 
day  in  type  ;  is  the  drapery  of  a  lady's  drawing 
room  changed  from  red  damask  and  gold  to  white 
satin  and  silver?  the  fact  is  publicly  announced. 
So  of  a  thousand  other  things.  The  first  burst  of 
it  all  upon  Madame  de  Stael,  led  her  to  remark 
that  the  English  had  realized  the  fable  of  living 
with  a  window  in  their  bosoms.  It  may  be 

thought  that  this  is  confined  to  a  class,  who,  sur- 

29 


226  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

rouded  by  the  allurements  of  wealth,  seek  this 
kind  of  publicity.  If  it  were  only  so,  the  class  is 
large,  beyond  all  parallel,  in  England ;  but  its 
influence  affects  other  classes,  giving  each  in  their 
way  the  habit  of  allowing  their  personal  inclina-  , 
tions  and  objects  to  be  dealt  with  in  print ;  so  that, 
altogether,  these  are  thrown  upon  the  public  to  an 
extent  without  example  in  any  other  country, 
ancient  or  modern.  When  the  drama  at  Athens 
took  cognizance  of  private  life,  what  was  said  be 
came  known  first  to  a  few  listeners ;  then  to  a 
small  town ;  but  in  three  days,  a  London  news 
paper  reaches  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  in 
three  months,  every  part  of  the  globe. 

Some  will  suppose  that  the  newspapers  govern 
the  country.  Nothing  would  be  more  unfounded. 
There  is  a  power  not  only  in  the  government,  but 
in  the  country  itself  above  them,  and  this  lies  in 
the  educated  classes.  True,  the  daily  press,  is  of  the 
educated  class ;  for  its  conductors  hold  the  pens  of 
scholars,  often  of  statesmen.  Hence,  you  see  no 
editorial  personalities  ;  which,  moreover,  the  pub 
lic  taste  would  not  bear.  But  what  goes  into  the 
columns  of  newspapers  no  matter  from  what 
sources,  comes  into  contact  with  equals  at  least  in 
mind  among  readers,  and  a  thousand  to  one  in 
number*  The  bulk  of  these  are  unmoved  by  what 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  227 

newspapers  say,  if  opposite  to  their  own  opinions ; 
which  passing  quickly  from  one  to  another  in  a 
society  where  population  is  dense,  make  head 
against  the  daily  press,  after  its  first  efforts  are 
spent  upon  classes  less  enlightened.  Half  the  peo 
ple  of  England  live  in  towns,  which  augments 
moral  as  physical  power ;  the  last,  by  strengthen 
ing  rural  parts  through  demand  for  their  products 
— the  first  by  sharpening  intellect  through  oppor 
tunities  of  collision.  The  daily  press  could 
master  opposing  mental  forces,  if  scattered ;  but 
not  when  they  can  combine.  The  general  litera 
ture  of  the  country,  also  reacts  against  newspapers. 
The  permanent  press  as  distinct  from  the  daily, 
teems  with  productions.  There  is  a  great  and 
powerful  class  of  authors  always  existent  in  En 
gland,  whose  sway  exceeds  that  of  the  newspapers, 
as  the  main  body  the  pioneers.  The  periodical 
literature  is  also  effective  ;  a  match  at  least  for  the 
newspapers,  when  its  time  arrives.  It  is  more 
elementary;  less  hasty.  In  a  word,  the  daily 
press  in  England,  with  its  floating  capital  in 
talents,  zeal  and  money,  can  do  much  at  an  onset. 
It  is  an  organized  corps,  full  of  spirit  and  always 
ready ;  but  there  is  a  higher  power  of  mind  and 
influence  behind,  that  can  rally  and  defeat  it.  From 
the  latter  source  it  may  also  be  presumed,  that  a 


228  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

more  deliberate  judgment  will  in  the  end  be  form 
ed  on  difficult  questions,  than  from  the  first  im 
pulses  and  more  premature  discussions  of  the 
daily  journals.  The  latter  move  in  their  proper 
orbit  by  reflecting  also,  in  the  end,  the  higher 
judgment  by  which  they  have  been  controlled. 
Such  are  some  of  the  considerations  that  strike 
the  stranger  who  reads  their  daily  newspapers. 
They  make  a  wonderful  part  of  the  social  system 
in  England. 

May  3.  Yesterday  the  Royal  Academy  gave 
their  aniversary  dinner  at  Somerset  house.  It 
was  the  fiftieth  celebration.  Froisart,  when  he 
found  himself  on  the  English  coast,  said,  that  he 
was  among  a  people  who  "  loved  war  better  than 
peace,  and  where  strangers  were  well  received"  If 
the  latter  were  true  in  the  time  of  Edward  III., 
diplomatic  strangers  must  say  that  it  is  still.  In 
vitations  crowd  upon  them.  If  they  did  not 
decline  more  than  they  accept,  there  would  be  a 
poor  account  of  their  public  business.  The  Royal 
Academy  is  an  institution  for  the  encouragement 
of  the  arts.  Professorships  of  painting,  sculpture 
and  anatomy,  are  annexed  to  it.  The  first  Pres 
ident  was  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds ;  in  which  capacity 
he  delivered  his  celebrated  discourses;  a  work 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  229 

invaluable  to  the  student  in  painting,  and  to  be 
read  with  scarcely  less  advantage  by  the  student 
of  any  science  or  profession.  The  author,  says 
Burke,  in  his  beautiful  obituary  notice  of  him,  was 
the  first  Englishman  who  added  the  praise  of  the 
elegant  arts,  to  the  other  glories  of  his  country. 
Yesterday  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  see,  as  his 
successor  in  the  chair,  my  venerable  countryman 
Mr.  West.  There  were  present  the  royal  acade 
micians,  a  large  collection  of  the  nobility,  many  of 
the  cabinet  ministers,  the  lord  chancellor,  the 
bishops  of  London  and  Salisbury,  artists,  and 
others  high  in  the  walks  of  genius  and  taste,  the 
foreign  ambassadors,  and  an  array  of  private 
gentlemen.  Five  of  the  rooms  had  their  walls 
hung  with  paintings ;  there  being  more  than  four 
hundred  pieces.  The  rule  being  to  receive  none 
formerly  exhibited,  this  number  was  therefore  to 
be  taken  as  the  year's  production  of  pieces  deemed 
by  the  Academy  worthy  of  exhibition.  Additional 
rooms  were  open,  containing  architectural  designs 
and  specimens  in  sculpture. 

The  collection  was  rich  in  portraits.  The  Eng 
lish,  in  this  line,  do  not  perhaps  fall  behind  any 
part  of  Europe.  The  productions  of  Lawrence, 
Beechey,  Phillips,  Davis,  Newton,  Jackson,  and 
many  others,  were  seen  all  around.  The  piece 


230  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

that  drew  most  attention  from  the  interest  of 
the  subject  in  British  eyes,  was  a  full  length  like 
ness  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  on  the  horse  he  * 
rode,  and  in  the  dress  he  wore,  at  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.  It  was  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence. 
There  was  a  fine  piece  by  Mr.  West,  founded  on 
an  interview  between  the  Great  Mogul  and  Lord 
Clive.  But  one  was  seen  of  surpassing  attraction  ; 
the  Family  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  by  Wilkie.  The 
great  author  is  seated  on  a  bank,  his  wife  and 
daughters  near  him,  in  cottage  dresses.  If  we  had 
Shakespeare  in  a  family  scene  on  the  Avon,  by  a 
distinguished  artist  of  Elizabeth's  time,  how  would 
it  be  prized  now !  In  going  through  the  rooms  it 
was  not  easy  to  avoid  the  reflection,  that  a  day  of 
fame  in  the  arts  awaits  Britain.  She  is  still  in  her 
youth  in  them.  She  has  hardly  made  any  efforts  to 
excel  in  them.  Busy  in  climbing  to  the  top  of  every 
thing  else,  she  has  not  had  time.  The  useful  arts 
have  occupied  her.  At  the  head  of  these  in  Europe, 
she  is  now  at  a  point  for  embarking  in  the  fine 
arts.  And  are  not  these  useful  too,  when  all  ages 
pronounce  that  they  enlarge  the  understanding, 
and  improve  the  heart,  as  much  as  they  refine  the 
taste  ?  To  suppose  the  English  climate  not  fa 
vourable  to  the  fine  arts,  is  strange ;  a  climate 
where  beautiful  appearances  of  nature  abound; 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  231 

that  has  been  favourable  to  every  kind  of  mental 
eminence,  as  mechanical  skill ;  where  there  is  little 
heat  to  relax,  or  cold  to  benumb ;  where  the  infe 
rior  animals  are  seen  in  full  size  and  strength,  and 
the  human  form  in  all  its  proportions  and  beauty, 
not  a  climate  for  painters  and  sculptors  !  But,  it 
is  said,  there  must  be  a  certain  delicacy  of  thought 
and  feeling  to  appreciate  the  world  of  nature,  and 
deck  it  with  the  glories  of  art !  And  is  not  the 
country  of  Shakespeare,  and  Scott,  of  Milton,  and 
Byron,  and  Moore,  one  for  painters  ?  How  came  the 
Dutch  with  a  school  of  painting  of  their  own,  and 
an  eminent  one  ?  Is  their  sky  more  genial  ?  And 
will  not  the  English,  with  political  institutions  and 
social  manners  of  their  own,  try  new  fields  of  art  ? 
An  American  adopts  the  anticipation  the  rather, 
because  he  clings  to  the  belief  that  his  own  coun 
try,  like  republics  of  old,  is  by  and  by  to  take  her 
stand  in  the  arts.  Her  students  even  now  go  to 
Italy  for  instruction.  They  hold,  that  in  the  great 
world  of  art,  there  is  still  immeasurable  room  for 
originality,  and  this  under  the  strictest  rules  of 
art. 

We  dined  in  the  principal  exhibition  room. 
Two  tables  ran  down  the  sides  connected  by  ano 
ther  at  the  top.  In  the  middle  of  the  latter  sat 
the  President ;  on  one  side  of  him,  the  Duke  of 


232  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Sussex,  on  the  other  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  The 
walls  were  so  covered  that  every  position  com 
manded  the  paintings ;  and,  through  different 
vistas,  the  eye  could  steal  into  the  other  rooms. 
The  whole  was  extremely  beautiful.  I  enter  into  no 
minute  criticism ;  I  give  only  general  impressions. 
It  is  not,  as  I  know,  the  habit  of  the  English  of  the 
higher  classes,  fastidious  from  their  familiarity 
with  the  exquisite  models  of  the  continent,  to  value 
themselves  much  on  this  home  exhibition ;  but  for 
myself,  bursting  upon  me  as  it  did  all  at  once,  I 
thought  it  highly  worthy  to  be  extolled.  I  could 
have  made  bold  to  suggest  a  subject  for  a  piece 
that  I  did  not  see  in  the  collection  :  viz.  The  pres 
ident  and  Royal  Academy,  at  the  anniversary  dinner 
with  their  guests. 

The  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  had  seats 
near  the  head.  After  the  Prince  Regent  and 
royal  family  had  been  given  as  toasts,  according 
to  the  custom  at  public  festivals  in  England,  the 
President  gave  the  "  Foreign  ambassadors  and 
ministers,  who,"  as  he  was  pleased  to  add,  "  had 
done  the  Academy  the  honor  to  be  present."  The 
toast  was  cheered  with  great  courtesy.  The  corps 
looked  to  me  as  the  organ  of  acknowledgment, 
English  being  my  native  tongue.  Obeying  their 
summons,  I  returned  thanks,  adding  that  I  was  au- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  233 

thorized  to  express  the  gratification  we  all  deriv 
ed  in  partaking  British  hospitality  surrounded  by 
so  many  memorials  of  British  art.  Speeches  were 
made  by  several  of  the  nobility  arid  gentlemen, 
but  chiefly  the  Duke  of  Sussex  and  Lord  Chan 
cellor  Eldon.  They  were  in  commendation  of  the 
arts,  and  on  the  usefulness  of  that  Institution 
towards  their  advancement  in  England.  Dinner 
was  served  at  six.  Until  past  seven,  we  had  the 
sun  through  sky-lights.  Afterwards,  there  fell 
gradually  from  above,  light  from  numerous  shaded 
lamps  in  hanging  circles.  They  were  burning 
unobserved,  when  we  sat  down,  and  emerged 
from  ambush  only  as  night  came  on. 

Dependent  lychni  laquearibus  aureis 
Incensi ;  et  noctem  flammis  funalia  vincunt. 

May  6.  This  is  the  season  for  public  societies 
to  hold  their  meetings.  It  would  be  next  to  im 
possible  to  ascertain  4:he  number,  charitable,  reli 
gious,  literary,  dramatic,  philanthropic,  and  of  all 
descriptions.  I  made  some  attempts,  but  ceased 
from  their  hopelessness.  A  public  spirited  indi 
vidual,  who  is  also  a  member  of  parliament,  hand 
ed  me  a  printed  list  containing  the  day  and  place 

of  meeting  of  between  fifty  and  sixty  of  those  only 

30 


234  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

with  which  he  was  connected.  The  Egyptian 
hall,  city  of  London  tavern,  Crown  and  Anchor, 
or  some  other  large  building  is  chosen,  and  a 
round  of  dinners  begins ;  this  being  most  commonly 
the  form  of  celebration.  Persons  who  were 
together  at  the  principal  schools,  as  Eton  and 
Harrow,  and  fellow  graduates  of  the  different 
colleges  in  the  universities,  have  also  their  annual 
dinners,  to  keep  alive  early  friendships.  Many  of 
the  associates  come  up  to  town  from  their  homes 
at  a  distance  in  the  country,  on  purpose  to  attend 
them. 

The  English  are  very  remarkable  for  giving 
dinners.  I  do  not  allude  to  the  kind  last  named, 
or  those  in  private  life ;  but  to  their  habit  of  giving 
them  in  connexion  with  objects  exclusively  public. 
These,  charitable  ones  among  them,  they  con 
stantly  advance  in  this  manner. 

"  The  veins  unfilled,  our  blood  is  cold,  and  then 
We  pout  upon  the  morning,  are  unapt 
To  give  or  to  forgive  ;  but  when  we  have  stuffed 
These  pipes  and  these  conveyances  of  our  blood 
With  wine  and  feeding,  we  have  suppler  souls 
Than  in  our  priest-like  fasts." 

If  the  English  meant  to  go  by  this  doctrine  of 
their  great  bard,  they  have  done  well,  for  their  cha- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  335 

rities  are  stupendous.  A  newspaper  can  hardly  be 
opened  that  does  not  hold  up  a  long  list  of  sub 
scriptions  amounting  to  sums  that  are  sometimes 
enormous.  I  have  now  particular  reference  to 
some  for  building  churches  and  establishing 
schools,  that  within  a  few  days  have  met  rny  eye. 
So,  in  various  parts  of  London,  hospitals  and 
other  asylums  for  the  distressed,  arrest  attention 
bearing  the  inscription  "  FOUNDED  BY  VOLUNTARY 
CONTRIBUTION,"  which  would  be  little  remarkable, 
perhaps,  were  they  not  beheld  in  connexion  with 
poor  taxes  to  an  amount  such  as  no  nation  ever 
before  paid.  The  buildings  devoted  to  these  chari 
table  purposes,  are  often  more  spacious  than  the 
royal  palaces,  and  show  an  exterior  more  imposing. 
An  annual  dinner  seems  an  indispensable  ad 
junct  to  an  English  charity.  Here  is  a  "  Samaritan 
society  •"  or  an  "  Infirmary  for  diseases  of  the  eye  ;" 
a  society  for  the  "  Relief  of  decayed  Artists ;" 
another  for  relieving  "poor  authors;"  a  fifth  for 
the  "  indigent  blind ;"  a  sixth  for  "foreigners  in 
distress  ;"  a  seventh  for  the  "  deaf  and  dumb;"  a 
society  for  " promoting  Christain  knowledge;"  a 
"  medical  benevolent  society"  and  I  know  not  how 
many  more,  for  I  merely  take  examples,  all  of 
which  have  their  anniversary  dinners.  Whatever 
the  demands  upon  the  charitable  fund,  there  seems 


236  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

always  enough  for  a  dinner  fund  too.  Eating  and 
drinking  are  not  the  sole  objects  of  this  festivity. 
Business  is  transacted,  reports  on  the  state  of  the 
charity  made,  and  speeches  delivered,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  pocket  is  appealed  to.  Feel 
ing  rises  as  the  inspiring  glass  goes  round,  and 
the  evening  generally  closes  with  an  increase  of 
the  treasurer's  store.  Noblenlen,  including  royal 
dukes,  take  part  on  these  occasions,  often  presid 
ing  at  the  dinners,  and  otherwise  giving  their 
personal  instrumentality,  and  freely  their  purses, 
towards  the  objects  of  the  societies.  In  France, 
before  the  revolution,  the  noble  families  were  com 
puted  at  thirty  thousand.  In  England,  they  may 
perhaps  be  computed  at  six  or  eight  hundred ;  yet 
this  handful  does  more  of  the  every  day  business 
of  the  country,  than  the  thirty  thousand  ever  did  in 
France.  In  France  they  did  the  work  of  chivalry ; 
they  fought  bravely  in  the  army  and  navy.  In 
England  besides  this,  you  trace  them  in  road  com 
panies,  canal  companies,  benevolent  and  public 
institutions  of  all  kinds,  to  say  nothing  of  their 
active  patronage  of  the  arts,  and  their  share  in 
politics ;  in  the  latter,  not  simply  as  cabinet  minis 
ters,  but  speakers,  committee-men,  and  hard- 
workers  in  all  ways. 

I  have  to-day  been  at  a  meeting  of  the  British 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  237 

and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Lord  Teignmouth 
was  in  the  chair.  Lord  Harrowby,  president  of 
the  council  of  cabinet  ministers ;  Mr.  Vansittart, 
Chancellor  of  the  exchequer ;  the  Bishops  of  Nor 
wich  and  Gloucester,  with  several  other  bishops ; 
Lords  Gambier  and  Calthorpe,  Mr.  Wilberforce, 
and  others  distinguished  by  character,  title,  or 
station,  were  present.  A  report  was  read,  by 
which  it  appeared  that  the  society  had  been  the 
means  of  distributing  two  millions  of  bibles ;  had 
caused  it  to  be  translated  into  twenty-seven  lan 
guages,  and  tKat  since  the  last  annual  meeting, 
there  had  been  collected  in  aid  of  the  society's 
funds,  by  private  subscriptions  in  Britain,  ninety- 
nine  thousand  pounds  sterling.  The  report  con 
tained  some  complimentary  allusions  to  Bible  soci 
eties  in  the  United  States.  These  passages  were 
loudly  cheered.  Several  speakers  who  addressed 
the  meeting,  mentioned  the  United  States  in  a 
similar  spirit;  amongst  them  the  Chancellor  of 
the  exchequer,  and  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  The 
former  spoke  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  as  the  "  two  greatest  maritime  nations  of 
the  world ;"  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  called  the 
latter,  "  a  great  and  growing  sister  country."  I 
was  requested,  after  entering  the  hall,  to  move  a 
vote  of  thanks  to  the  distinguished  president,  Lord 


238  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Teignmouth.  A  resolution  to  this  effect  was  put 
into  my  hands,  which  I  moved  accordingly.  In 
fulfilling  the  duty,  whilst  joining  in  the  tribute  that 
all  had  rendered  to  the  objects  of  the  society,  I 
was  happy  in  the  opportunity  of  responding,  as 
national  courtesy  demanded,  to  the  notices  taken 
of  my  country. 

May  10.  Dined  at  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne's. 
His  name  had  been  familiar  to  me  with  every 
prepossession ;  and  in  the  House  of  Lords,  I  had 
already  listened  to  his  disciplined  eloquence. 

The  company  consisted  of  Lord  and  Lady  Lans- 
downe,  his  royal  highness  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
the  Earl  of  Ilchester,  the  Earl  of  Rosslyn,  Lord 
Holland,  Lord  Erskine,  the  Bishop  of  Sodor  and 
Man,  the  Russian  and  Austrian  ambassadors,  the 
vice  chancellor,  and  the  ladies  of  several  of  the 
guests. 

In  the  dining  room,  were  ancient  statues.  They 
were  in  ancient  costumes,  standing  in  niches. 
These  time-honoured  master-pieces  of  genius  and 
art,  had  been  obtained  from  Rome.  As  we  walk 
ed  into  dinner  through  a  suite  of  apartments,  the 
entire  aspect  was  of  classic  beauty ;  the  very  table, 
on  which  the  statues  seemed  to  look,  might  almost 
be  called  classic,  so  chaste  were  its  decorations. 


1818  I          COURT  OF  LONDON.  939 

Conversation  was  various.  The  Floridas  being 
mentioned  in  connexion  with  the  rumour  of  their 
intended  transfer  to  the  United  States,  Lord  Ers- 
kine  said,  we  ought  to  have  them ;  that  is,  he 
added,  "  if  I  belonged  to  the  United  States,  I  would 
maintain  that  doctrine  ;"  there  was  the  same  vein 
about  him  as  at  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's;  a 
youthfulness  of  imagination  that  imparted  its 
sprightliness  to  every  thing. 

The  Duke  of  Gloucester  spoke  of  General  Wash 
ington.  It  wras  with  the  praise  always  annexed 
to  his  great  name.  He  commended,  particularly, 
his  Farewell  Address.  Lord  Erskine  called  him 
an  august  and  immortal  man. 

Architecture  being  a  topic,  Lord  Holland  said, 
that  it  did  not  yet  flourish  in  England.  Italy, 
France,  and  other  parts  of  the  continent,  had  bet 
ter  public  edifices ;  specimens  of  domestic  archi 
tecture  were  not  wanting  in  England ;  but  these 
were  too  often  spoiled  by  putting  the  door  in  the 
middle ;  by  this  custom,  good  arrangement  inside, 
was  sacrificed  to  external  appearance,  and  he  was 
not  sure  that  a  gain  always  followed  in  this  re 
spect  ;  on  the  continent,  the  entrance  to  the  best 
private  buildings,  was  generally  at  the  side.  The 
architecture  of  the  ancients  was  spoken  of,  and 
other  subjects  touched  as  they  arose. 


240  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

After  we  came  from  table,  I  had  more  conver 
sation  with  Lord  Erskine.  He  spoke  of  the  Em 
peror  Alexander.  He  had  seen  La  Harpe,  his 
tutor,  at  Paris,  who  showed  him  letters  from  the 
emperor,  written  soon  after  his  accession  to  the 
throne.  One  of  them  ran  thus :  "  My  dear  friend  : 
I  feel  the  load  of  my  responsibility ;  I  feel  how 
incompetent  my  youth  and  inexperience  are,  to 
wield  the  sceptre  of  such  an  empire ;  all  that  I  can 
hope  is,  that  I  may  be  guided  by  the  precepts  you 
have  taught  me ;  I  pray  you,  if  ever  you  find  me 
departing  from  them,  to  remind  me  of  them ;  do 
not  wait  for  me  to  send  for  you  ;  this  I  probably 
shall  not  do  when  I  act  in  opposition  to  them ; 
but  write  to  me,  come  to  me,  to  recall  me  from 
my  errors."  All  will  agree,  that  such  a  letter  was 
honourable  to  both  pupil  and  preceptor.  His  lord 
ship  said,  that  La  Harpe  told  him,  the  emperor 
was  fond  of  reading  works  on  the  institutions  of  the 
United  States.  Before  separating,  he  said,  that  he 
intended  to  call  on  me  soon,  not  by  leaving  a  card, 
the  common  way  he  believed  of  visiting  foreign 
ministers,  but  by  coming  in.  I  assured  him  he 
could  in  no  way  make  me  more  happy. 

May  19.     Last  evening,  we   were  at  Carlton 
House.     This  seems  the  season  for  large  routs  by 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  241 

night,  as  the  meeting  of  public  societies  by  day. 
We  have  been  to  a  number.  I  could  give  little 
description  of  them,  unless  to  speak  of  their  crowds, 
and  the  difficulty  of  getting  to  them  and  from  them, 
through  phalanxes  of  carriages. 

The  entertainment  last  evening  was  different. 
The  company  found  space  in  the  ample  rooms, 
although  there  was  an  array  of  all  the  principal 
persons  of  the  court,  a  very  full  number  of  peers 
and  peeresses,  the  foreign  ambassadors  and 
ministers,  and  many  others.  I  caught  conversa 
tion  as  I  could,  in  such  a  throng.  Lord  Sidmouth, 
secretary  of  state  for  the  home  department,  assured 
me  of  the  earnest  desire  of  his  majesty's  govern 
ment,  to  strengthen  the  friendly  relations  between 
our  two  countries.  He  spoke  of  the  United  States 
with  great  cordiality.  He  inquired  for  Mr.  King, 
saying,  that  he  had  earned  the  lasting  respect  and 
good  will  of  many  persons  in  England.  Nor  did 
the  Prince  Regent  conclude  his  salutations  to  me, 
without  renewing  his  inquiries  for  him. 

The  rooms  were  magnificent.  The  golden  plate 
in  display,  is  said  to  be  unrivalled  in  Europe.  It 
includes  some  that  belonged  to  Charles  the  First. 
One  of  the  rooms  led  through  doors  of  reflecting 
glass,  to  a  rich  Gothic  conservatory  partially 

illuminated  with  hanging  lamps,  and  filled  with 

31 


242  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  f  1 8 1 8. 

flowers,  through  the  leaves  surrounding  which,  the 
lights  seemed  to  twinkle  as  you  approached ;  for 
it  was  open  to  the  walks  of  the  company.  Than 
flowers,  there  can  be  nothing  more  beautiful,  even 
in  palaces ;  the  Prince's  band  was  stationed  in 
this  beautiful  receptacle  for  them,  and  played  at 
intervals  throughout  the  evening.  It  was  not  at 
an  early  hour  that  we  got  away  from  such  a  scene. 

May  21.  Dr.  Pinckard,  an  eminent  physician  of 
Bloomsbury  square,  entertained  us  very  hospitably 
at  dinner.  He  was  formerly  attached  to  the  British 
army,  and  on  service  in  the  West  Indies.  Thence 
he  visited  Philadelphia,  where  I  made  his  acquain 
tance  ;  listening,  at  my  father's  table,  to  his  vari 
ous  and  intelligent  conversation. 

Of  the  guests,  was  Lieutenant  General  Sir 
Charles  Green.  Advanced  in  life,  he  was  still  a 
fine  looking  man,  with  little  of  age  in  his  manner. 
He  had  been  distinguished  by  his  services  in  the 
wars  of  the  French  revolution ;  but  I  found  that 
his  military  career  took  an  earlier  date.  He  was 
a  captain  in  Burgoyne's  army,  had  been  captured 
at  Saratoga  in  1778,  and  marched  as  a  prisoner 
from  Albany  to  Boston.  He  related  anecdotes  of 
the  campaign,  and  of  his  march ;  it  need  scarcely 
be  added,  with  urbanity  and  good  humour. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  243 

I  mention  the  incident  the  rather,  because  al 
though  the  first,  it  was  not  the  only  instance  in 
which  I  met  those  who  had  shared  in  the  war  of 
the  American  revolution ;  and  who  spoke  of  its 
events  in  the  same  spirit.  Belonging  to  an  age 
gone  by,  it  seems  no  longer  to  be  recalled  in  Eng 
land,  in  any  other  spirit  than  that  of  history. 


244  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  United  States  and  Ionian  Islands.  Affairs  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain.  Monument  to  Burns.  British 
Institution,  Pall  Mall.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Canning's.  Lord 
Erskine. 

May  24.  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  from  the  Ionian  Islands, 
called  upon  me,  having  a  communication  to  make, 
of  interest,  as  he  said,  to  his  country;  and  he 
hoped  I  would  think  it  so  to  mine.  By  a  treaty 
concluded  at  Paris  in  1815,  the  seven  Ionian  Isl 
ands  had  been  formed  into  an  independent  state, 
denominated  "  The  United  States  of  the  Ionian 
Islands,"  and  placed  under  the  protection  of  Great 
Britain.  It  was  a  protection  the  Islands  did  not  like. 
Did  the  constitution  of  my  country  prohibit  our  ac 
quiring  foreign  possessions  ?  I  said,  no.  He  asked 
if  it  would  accord  with  our  policy,  to  have  a  con 
nexion  with  the  Seven  Islands ;  such  a  measure  he 
believed  would  be  practicable,  if  the  United  States 
would  consent.  In  short,  he  thought  that  the 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  245 

Islands,  particularly  Corfu,  Zante  and  Cephalonia, 
would  be  willing  to  place  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  the  United  States,  if  the  terms  could 
be  arranged. 

I  asked,  what  England  would  say,  and  Russia, 
and  Europe  generally  ?  He  replied,  that  he  did 
not  see  what  ground  of  objection  there  could  be, 
if  the  Islands  desired  it ;  remarking  that  he  had 
perceived  by  the  newspapers  that  my  government 
had  protested  against  Great  Britain  exercising  so 
vereignty  over  them  any  longer. 

I  was  little  prepared  for  such  a  communication. 
I  cannot  say  that  I  was  an  entire  stranger  to  the 
publication  he  alluded  to,  for  I  had  seen  it ;  but  I 
had  considered  it  in  the  light  of  a  burlesque  upon  a 
previous  newspaper  paragraph  stating  that  Great 
Britain  had  protested  against  the  United  States 
acquiring  the  Floridas.  What  is  penned  in  mirth, 
however,  it  seems,  may  pass  for  earnest.  I  as 
sured  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  that  there  was  no  foundation  for 
the  account ;  which  he  appeared  to  have  believed 
fully,  until  this  interview.  He  did  not  urge  the 
less  that  my  government  should  take  into  conside 
ration  the  expediency  of  assuming  the  protector 
ship  of  the  Islands ;  and  enlarged  on  the  prospects 
of  commercial  advantage  it  would  open  to  us  by 
an  intercourse  with  the  Morea,  Albania,  Constan- 


246  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tinople,  and  the  Ottoman  dominions  generally.  I 
replied,  that  it  was  no  part  of  the  system  of  the 
United  States,  to  get  entangled  with  European  poli 
tics,  and  least  of  all  to  interfere  in  the  relationship 
between  Great  Britain  and  these  Islands.  This  was 
the  amount  of  the  interview.  He  was  attended  by 
two  other  persons  from  the  Islands. 

As  the  English  newspapers  have  lately  abounded 
in  vituperative  articles  against  the  United  States, 
in  connexion  with  their  affairs  with  Spain,  without 
understanding  them,  or  exhibiting  only  the  Spanish 
side,  I  will  here  insert  a  letter  I  addressed  to  the 
President  on  this  subject,  which  bears  upon  the  fore 
going  interview.  My  regular  weekly  despatches, 
were  addressed  to  Mr.  Secretary  Adams.  These 
went  on  the  public  files  of  the  department  of  state. 
I  wrote  to  him,  also  on  public  matters,  in  a  way  not 
designed  for  those  files,  it  being  my  good  fortune  to 
enjoy  his  confidence;  and,  not  unfrequently,  I 
wrote  to  the  President  in  the  same  manner ;  of 
which  this  communication  may  be  taken  as  a  sam 
ple.  It  was  dated  the  twentieth  of  this  month, 
and  in  its  material  parts  was  as  follows : 

"Since  my  last,  no  steps  that  were  practicable 
have  been  omitted  to  ascertain  from  what  source 
the  letter,  a  copy  of  which  I  transmitted,  proceeded; 


1818*1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  247 

or  how  far  the  information  which  it  disclosed,  is  to 
be  relied  upon.  The  writer  states  himself  to  be 
in  connexion  with  a  person  high  in  station,  but 
declines  an  interview.  Since  the  tenth  instant,  he 
has  addressed  several  letters  to  the  legation.  I 
would  send  copies,  but  that  all  are  to  the  same 
effect,  and  the  one  already  sent,  will  be  to  you  a 
sufficient  specimen  of  his  style  and  manner.  Keep 
ing  to  points  that  are  essential,  I  will  condense  the 
information  they  purport  to  convey,  thus  saving 
your  valuable  time. 

"  He  continues  to  assert,  that  Great  Britain  has 
secretly  determined  to  support  Spain  in  a  contest 
with  the  United  States ;  that  the  cabinet  of  the 
former  has  resolyed  that  our  territory  shall  not  be 
extended,  and  more  than  all  that  the  Floridas  shall 
not  be  added  to  it,  as  bringing  us  too  near  to  Cuba ; 
that  Spain  is  to  begin  the  contest,  not  by  a  formal 
declaration,  but  by  letting  loose  her  privateers; 
that  she  will  take  this  step  as  soon  as  the  arma 
ment  now  preparing  at  Cadiz  to  go  against  South 
America,  shall  have  sailed,  and  that  this  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Spanish  ambassador  at  this  court, 
founded  on  communications  from  Madrid;  that 
the  manifesto  of  Spain  will  soon  appear,  calling 
upon  all  other  powers  who  have  colonies  to  assist 
her  in  her  struggle ;  that  an  officer  high  in  the 


248  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Spanish  embassy  was  sent  off  express  to  Paris  on 
these  objects  last  week,  and  that  a  Spanish  secre 
tary  lately  sailed  from  the  Thames  with  definitive 
instructions  to  the  Spanish  minister  at  Washington, 
Mr.  Onis,  under  the  crisis  that  is  approaching. 
That  Soain  is  to  have  no  quarrel  with  Portugal, 
such  a  measure  not  falling  in  with  the  views  of 
England,  and  that  Olivenza  will  be  given  up ;  that 
five  of  the  daily  newspapers  of  London  have  their 
columns  open  to  the  Spanish  embassy,  and  that 
the  Spanish  government  is  actively  employed  in 
buying  up  vessels  to  be  fitted  out  and  manned  in 
England,  to  cruise  under  the  Spanish  flag  against 
our  trade ;  that  Spain  has  her  agents  at  work  in 
several  of  the  ports  of  equipment  in  this  kingdom ; 
also  in  France,  Holland  and  the  Netherlands,  ex 
pecting,  under  cover  of  her  own  flag,  to  enlist  the 
privateering  means  of  half  Europe  against  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States  whilst  every  where 
exposed,  and  that  the  vessels  will  be  fitted  out 
under  pretence  of  acting  against  South  America. 
That  a  person  lately  arrived  here  from  Madrid, 
with  full  powers  from  the  king  to  the  Spanish  ambas 
sador  to  act  at  his  discretion  in  procuring  the  in 
struments  and  means  of  striking  at  our  commerce  5 
that  the  ambassador,  who  is  represented  as  having 
large  private  resources,  which  he  spends  liberally 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  249 

in  addition  to  his  public  allowances,  has  the  un 
bounded  confidence  of  his  king,  who  will  confirm 
all  that  he  does.  Finally,  that  the  ambassador 
has  caused  a  pamphlet  to  be  written  against  the 
United  States,  dilating  upon  their  alleged  injustice 
and  rapacity  towards  Spain,  which,  by  raising 
odium  against  them,  is  intended  to  aid  the  hostile 
views  of  Spain ;  and  that  many  thousand  copies  of 
it  are  to  be  circulated  in  French,  Spanish  and 
English,  in  quarters  where  it  will  be  likely  to  be 
most  effective. 

"  The  question  is,  how  far  do  the  above  allega 
tions,  or  any  of  them,  appear  to4  be  sustained  by 
facts.  The  most  material  are,  the  asserted  pur 
chase  and  equipment  of  vessels  in  the  ports  of 
Great  Britain.  This,  if  true,  cannot  easily  be 
hidden.  As  yet  I  have  obtained  no  information 
that  would  authorise  me  in  saying  that  it  has  been 
done.  I  have  made,  and  will  continue  to  make, 
every  inquiry.  Persons  connected  with  the 
American  trade,  are  the  proper  sources  to  resort 
to ;  their  sagacity  will  be  sure  to  make  the  first 
discoveries ;  nor  will  our  vigilant  consul,  Colonel 
Aspinwall,  be  asleep. 

"  As  to  the  newspapers  being  open  to  the  Span 
ish  embassy,  this  is  not  improbable.     Most  of  the 

violent  articles  against  the  United  States  touching 

32 


250  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

their  affairs  with  Spain,  that  have  lately  appeared 
in  the  London  papers,  have  proceeded,  I  have 
little  doubt,  from  Spaniards,  or  pens  which  they 
enlist.  They  bear  decided  marks  of  this  origin. 
There  was,  I  believe,  an  officer  of  the  Spanish 
embassy  despatched  to  Paris  ten  days  or  a  fort 
night  ago ;  but  I  have  been  able  to  procure  no  evi 
dence  of  the  nature  of  his  errand,  beyond  the 
assertions  of  the  letter  writer.  Upon  these  alone, 
reiterated  indeed  with  great  confidence,  rests,  for 
the  present,  the  credit  due  to  all  his  other  com 
munications.  The  pamphlet  of  which  he  speaks, 
has  been  written ;  at  least  in  part,  for  he  has  sent 
to  the  legation  some  of  the  printed  sheets,  which  I 
enclose.  It  is  said  that  the  writer,  an  Englishman, 
has  received,  or  is  to  receive,  sixty  guineas  from  the 
Spanish  embassy  ;  if  so  I  should  pronounce  it  more 
than  the  pamphlet  is  worth.  The  Spanish  am 
bassador  is  the  Duke  of  San  Carlos,  who  formerly 
represented  Spain  at  the  court  of  Vienna,  where 
his  household  was  on  a  munificent  scale ;  as  here. 
We  exchange  visits  and  reciprocate  other  civi 
lities. 

"  In  addition  to  the  communications  of  the  letter 
writer,  I  have  been  waited  upon  by  a  member  of 
the  congress  of  Venezuela,  now  in  London.  He 
regards  a  rupture  between  the  United  States  and 


1818  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  251 

Spain  as  so  near,  that,  on  the  ground  of  his  ac 
quaintance  with  the  condition  and  resources  of 
Spanish  America,  he  came  to  tender  rne  all  his 
information  in  aid  of  our  cause.  I  said  the  United 
States  meditated  no  hostile  steps.  He  replied, 
that  Spain  did.  I  suggested  the  obvious  objections, 
unless  she  expected  co-operation  from  England ; 
and  that  I  could  not  think  the  latter  meant  to  go 
to  war  with  us  without  cause.  He  met  the  objec 
tions  by  saying,  that  England  had  promised  no 
co-operation,  but  that  the  condition  of  Spain  was 
desperate;  she  must  lose  her  colonies  if  things 
continued  on  the  present  footing ;  the  only  hope 
of  saving  them,  rested  upon  her  being  able  to  bring 
England  by  some  means  or  other  to  her  assistance. 
That  she  counted  upon  the  jealousy  between 
England  and  the  United  States  on  the  ocean,  and 
by  going  to  war  herself  with  the  latter,  the  course 
of  events  would  soon  draw  the  former  into  it, 
whatever  she  might  say  at  first.  At  any  rate, 
that  this  was  a  game  of  chances  Spain  had  resolv 
ed  to  play,  as,  at  the  worst,  it  could  only  accelerate 
a  catastrophe  otherwise  inevitable,  viz.  the  total 
loss  of  her  dominion  in  America.  This  Venezue 
lan,  although  liable  to  be  warped  by  his  political 
wishes,  is  intelligent  and  cool-minded,  and  full  of 
activity  in  seeking  information  as  to  the  purposes 


252  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  Spain.  I  therefore  report  what  he  said,  although 
he  referred  to  no  specific  facts.  However  plausi 
ble  his  way  of  reasoning,  it  is  not  sufficient  with 
me  to  overcome  weightier  reasons  opposed  to  it. 
Hence,  that  either  Spain  or  England  design  to 
strike  a  hostile  blow  at  us,  I  am  not  able  at  present 
to  believe.  Still,  I  have  not  felt  at  liberty  to  be 
altogether  passive  under  my  own  incredulity.  I 
am  taking  steps  of  precaution  from  which,«be  the 
issue  what  it  may,  no  evil  can  arise.  I  have  writ 
ten  to  our  ministers  at  Paris  and  Madrid,  and  to 
the  commander  of  our  squadron  in  the  Medi 
terranean  ;  not  expressing  myself  in  a  way  to 
excite  alarm,  but  watchfulness.  I  shall  continue 
attentive  to  what  passes,  and  should  any  new  or 
more  distinctive  grounds  be  laid  before  me,  adopt 
such  other  measures  as  prudence  may  dictate, 
hoping  those  already  taken  may  have  your  appro 
bation.  It  is  proper  I  should  add,  that  there  has 
been  no  open  departure  whatever  in  the  English 
cabinet  or  court  from  a  frank  and  conciliatory 
course  towards  us.  If  any  thing  is  going  on,  it  is 
profoundly  in  the  dark." 

The  matter  of  the  above  letter,  points  to  one  of 
those  occurrences  which  belongs  to  the  history  of 
a  public  mission,  and  serves  to  shed  light  on  inci 
dents  otherwise  not  so  well  understood.  It  was  easy 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  253 

to  believe  that  Spain  desired  a  rupture  between  the 
United  States  and  England,  and  that  those  in  her 
service  would  labour  in  all  ways  to  that  end  ;  but 
it  was  not  to  be  believed,  that  she  would  go  to 
war  with  the  United  States  on  a  mere  speculation 
that  the  force  of  circumstances  might  draw  Eng 
land  into  it.  The  navy  of  the  United  States  was 
in  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  and  the  certainty  of 
its  immediate  co-operation  with  the  Spanish  colo 
nies,  for  which  their  proximity  afforded  advan 
tages,  could  not  have  failed  to  have  set  before 
Spain  the  risks,  on  that  ground  alone,  of  seeking 
such  a  war.  That  England  would  rather  the 
Floridas  belonged  to  Spain  than  the  United  States, 
was  no  more  than  natural.  She  remembered  that 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht  had  prohibited  Spain  from 
transferring  any  of  her  colonial  possessions,  to 
other  powers ;  but  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  more 
recently,  had  been  silent  on  such  a  policy,  and  Eng 
land,  a  party  to  that  congress,  knew  as  well  as 
other  powers,  that  the  day  for  its  revival  was  at 
an  end. 

May  27.  A  few  persons  desiring  to  see  a  mon 
ument  erected  to  Burns,  put  a  notice  in  one  of  the 
newspapers,  that  the  admirers  of  his  genius  would 
dine  to-day,  at  the  City  of  London  tavern.  About 


254  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

two  hundred  assembled.  The  stewards  were  kind 
enough  to  invite  me,  as  a  guest.  The  Duke  of 
York  was  in  the  chair. 

The  leading  person  at  table  was  Mr.  Boswell, 
son  of  the  biographer  of  Johnson,  and  a  member  of 
parliament.  He  made  a  neat  and  appropriate  speech 
on  the  genius  of  Burns,  urging  the  propriety  of 
erecting  a  monument  on  the  site  of  the  cottage 
where  he  was  born.  A  son  of  the  poet  was  present. 
On  "  Success  to  the  family  of  Burns"  being  given 
as  a  toast,  he  thanked  the  company  in  a  modest 
and  touching  manner.  The  punch  bowl  that  be 
longed  to  Burns,  and  of  which  it  is  known  he 
was  too  fond,  was  handed  round  the  table  as  a 
relic.  A  full  band  was  in  the  orchestra.  We  had 
a  great  deal  of  fine  old  Scotch  music,  with  several 
of  Burns's  songs,  and  a  good  one  written  for  the 
occasion  by  Mr.  Boswell.  The  Duke  of  York  was 
toasted,  with  a  complimentary  allusion  to  the 
share  which,  as  commander  in  chief  of  the  Bri 
tish  army,  he  had  taken  in  improving  its  condition. 
He  returned  thanks,  adding  that  it  was  his  highest 
pride  to  merit  the  approbation  of  his  sovereign,  and 
good  will  of  his  fellow  subjects.  "  The  admirers  of 
Burns  in  the  United  States"  came  next  as  a  toast ; 
on  which  I  made  my  acknowledgments,  saying,  that 
my  countrymen  were  alive  to  the  charms  of  his 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  255 

poetry,  as  he  wrote  for  the  heart,  which  was  of 
all  nations.  The  Duke  of  York  asked  me  if  we 
made  speeches  at  our  public  dinners,  as  they  were 
forced  to  do  in  England.  I  said,  not  hitherto  ; 
but  it  was  a  custom  which  tended,  I  thought,  to 
improve  the  character  of  public  dinners,  by  intro 
ducing  excitements  beyond  those  merely  jovial. 
He  assented.  We  had  other  speeches — short 
ones;  they  would  otherwise,  all  must  agree,  lose 
a  principal  merit  for  such  occasions. 

Several  hundred  pounds  were  collected  towards 
the  monument.  Three  or  four  of  my  countrymen, 
accidentally  in  London,  were  present,  and  marked 
their  admiration  of  the  genius  of  the  bard,  by 
being  contributors.  It  may  serve,  as  a  single  in 
stance,  to  show  how  the  pocket  is  opened  at  public 
dinners  in  London. 

May  28.  Visited  the  British  Gallery,  in  Pall 
Mall,  with  tickets  kindly  sent  to  me  and  my  family 
by  the  Chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  The  collec 
tion  of  paintings  is  very  choice,  being  made  up 
exclusively  of  pieces  from  the  Italian,  French, 
Dutch,  Spanish  and  Flemish  masters.  They  be 
long  to  persons  in  England  who  annually  send 
specimens  from  their  private  collections  to  this 
exhibition  for  the  gratification  of  the  public,  and 


256  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

to  aid  in  fostering  taste  in  this  branch  of  the  arts. 
You  wander  through  rooms  where  hang  produo, 
tions  on  which  the  public  taste  of  different  ages 
and  nations,  had  put  the  seal  of  approbation. 

It  has  been  said  that  painters  can  flourish  only  in 
Roman  catholic  countries.  That  the  Scriptures  have 
afforded  the  grandest  subjects  for  the  pencil,  is  true. 
In  catholic  countries,  the  church  influences  largely 
secular  feeling,  which  is  a  sufficient  reason,  if  no 
other  existed,  why  their  painters  so  frequently  take 
subjects  from  scripture.  But  they  have  not  confined 
themselves  to  these ;  and  are  not  the  same  sub 
jects  open  to  the  pencil  in  protestant  countries  ? 
The  very  variety  of  religions,  as  of  character,  in 
England,  will  tend  to  advance  her  in  the  arts, 
when  she  takes  her  stand  in  them.  She  has  an 
established  church,  with  every  species  of  dissent ; 
a  powerful  aristocracy,  with  popular  forms  and 
practices  that,  in  some  respects,  Athens  never 
equalled ;  a  king,  venerated  and  lampooned ;  more 
than  all,  an  amount  of  riches,  not  hereditary 
merely,  but  self-acquired,  in  the  hands  of  indivi 
duals  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  making  a 
greater  number  independent  in  their  circumstances, 
and  giving  them,  consequently,  more  command 
over  their  time  and  inclinations,  than  has  probably 
ever  before  been  known  among  the  same  number 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  257 

of  people,  existing  as  one  nation.  All  these  are 
materials  for  the  arts.  A  school  founded  in  such  a 
soil,  could  neither  be  formal,  nor  limited.  Man 
nerism  belongs  to  feelings  and  pursuits  more  cir 
cumscribed.  It  would  be  a  soil,  too,  for  patronage ; 
not  by  a  few  nobles,  or  the  hand  of  an  amateur 
prince ;  but  diffused,  as  through  rich  republics,  all 
over  the  land. 

The  annual  exhibition  of  the  works  of  the  mas 
ters,  is  not  the  only  way  in  which  this  institution 
aims  at  advancing  the  fine  arts.  Its  governors 
and  patrons  purchase  the  productions  of  British 
artists,  where  merit  is  high.  It  was  so  that  Mr. 
West's  picture  of  Christ  healing  the  Sick,  was  pur 
chased  for  three  thousand  guineas.  It  is  the  pic 
ture,  the  fellow  to  which  was  presented  by  him  to 
the  hospital  at  Philadelphia.  There  needs  no  other 
proof  of  the  interest  the  venerable  artist  felt  in  the 
land  of  his  birth,  than  this  munificent  donation. 
He  contemplated  with  delight  the  growth  of  the 
arts  in  the  United  States ;  he  had  studied  paint 
ing  as  carefully,  and  understood  its  rules  with  as 
just  a  discrimination,  as  any  artist  living ;  he  had 
opportunities  of  knowing  that  the  study  was  pur 
sued  with  both  zeal  and  judgment  in  the  country 
always  dear  to  him ;  he  had  seen  in  her  infancy 

every  presage  of  future  eminence,  and  to  aid  in 

33 


258  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

stimulating  tendencies  so  noble,  was  one  of  the 
motives  to  his  generous  gift. 

June  5.  We  were  at  another  entertainment  at 
Carlton  House  on  Tuesday  evening,  and  to-day,  I 
attended  the  levee.  Lord  Castlereagh  said  to  me, 
that  his  constant  engagements  in  parliament  had 
prevented  his  asking  an  interview  with  me  during 
the  past  fortnight,  as  he  had  wished.  Its  dissolu 
tion  was  at  hand,  he  added,  immediately  after 
which  he  would  fix  a  time  for  our  meeting, 

June  6.  Dined  at  Mr.  Canning's,  at  his  resi 
dence,  Gloucester-lodge,  two  miles  from  town. 
We  had  exchanged  visits  by  cards.  The  latter 
periods  of  my  mission,  during  which  he  was  secre 
tary  for  foreign  affairs,  brought  me  into  much 
intercourse  with  him,  personal  and  official ;  but 
this  was  the  first  time  I  had  met  him,  except  at 
levees  and  drawing  rooms.  To  the  space  he  filled 
in  public  estimation,  I  could  be  no  stranger.  He 
received  his  guests  cordially.  The  grounds  about 
his  house  were  not  extensive,  but  very  neat,  and 
shut  in  by  trees.  All  was  seclusion,  the  moment 
the  gates  closed ;  a  common  beauty  in  the  villas 
near  London.  The  drawing  rooms  opened  on  a 
portico,  from  which  you  walked  out  upon  one  of 
those  smoothly-shaven  lawns  which  Johnson, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  259 

speaking  of  Pope's  poetry,  likens  to  velvet ;  and 
we  had  the  soft  twilight,  which  at  this  season  lasts 
so  long,  in  England,  and  sets  off  verdure  to  such 
advantage.  "  You  see,"  said  Mr.  Canning,  "  how 
we  prize  your  plants,"  pointing  to  some  rhododen 
drons  ;  "  you  must  be  fond  of  horticulture  in  the 
United  States,  from  the  specimens  we  have  of 
your  flowers."  I  said  it  was  a  growing  taste  with 
us,  but  that  we  had  much  to  do  before  we  should 
equal  England  in  this  respect.  "  And  we  in  Eng 
land,"  he  said,  "  are  behind  Holland,  and  I  believe 
France,  in  flowers." 

Dinner  was  soon  announced.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Canning,  the  Marquis  and  Marchioness  of  Stafford, 
Lady  Elizabeth  Levison  Gower,  the  Spanish  am 
bassador  and  his  dutchess,  the  Neapolitan  minister 
and  his  countess,  my  wife,  Mr.  Chinnery,  and  some 
members  of  Mr.  Canning's  family,  made  the  party. 
Mr.  Canning  sat  at  the  head.  His  quick  eye  was 
all  round  the  table ;  his  aim,  to  draw  out  others, 
rather  than  converse  himself.  Occasionally,  he 
had  touches  of  pleasantry.  He  asked  for  Mr. 
Pinkney,  of  Maryland,  formerly  minister,  from  the 
United  States.  "  I  once,"  said  he,  "  had  a  skir 
mish  with  him  about  language,  but  he  worsted  me ; 
I  said  there  was  no  such  word  as  influential,  ex 
cept  in  America,  but  he  convinced  me  that  it  was 


260  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

originally  carried  over  from  England."  Lord  Staf 
ford  here  remarked,  that  it  was  so  good  a  word  they 
ought  to  bring  it  back.  "  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Canning, 
it  is  a  very  good  wor d,  and  I  know  no  reason  why 
it  should  have  remained  in  America,  but  that  we 
lost  the  thing:'' 

A  library  was  attached  to  the  suite  of  rooms. 
When  we  came  out  from  dinner,  some  of  the  com 
pany  found  pastime  in  turning  over  the  leaves  of 
caricatures,  bound  up  in  large  volumes.  They 
went  back  to  the  French  revolutionary  period. 
Kings,  princes,  cabinet  ministers,  members  of  par 
liament,  every  body,  figured  in  them  ;  and  all  poli 
tical  events.  It  was  a  kind  of  history  of  England, 
in  caricature,  for  five  and  twenty  years ;  and  need 
I  add,  that  our  accomplished  host  was  on  many  a 
page  !  He  stood  by.  Now  and  then  he  threw  in 
a  word,  giving  new  point  to  the  scenes.  It  is 
among  the  contradictions  of  the  English,  that,  shy 
and  sensitive  as  the  higher  classes  in  many  re 
spects  are,  perhaps  beyond  any  other  people,  they 
are  utterly  indifferent  to  these  kind  of  attacks. 
Their  public  men  also,  exclude  politics  from  pri 
vate  life,  and  you  meet  with  persons  of  opposite 
parties  mingling  together  as  if  nothing  divided 
them. 

He  asked  who  were  our  favourite  authors  in 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  261 

the  United  States.  The  English,  I  said.  But 
among  the  English  ?  Johnson,  Dryden,  Addison, 
or  Swift  ?  Opinions  varied,  I  said ;  Johnson  had 
his  admirers ;  but  I  thought,  that  after  five  and 
twenty,  our  readers  for  the  most  part  came  round 
to  the  others.  They  were  his  favourites,  he  said. 
Next  he  asked,  is  not  Junius  liked  ?  Generally  he 
was,  I  said ;  I  had  heard  of  a  young  gentleman  in 
Philadelphia,  who  transcribed  all  his  letters,  in  the 
hope  of  catching  his  style.  He  made  no  comment ; 
but  I  thought  I  saw  that  he  would  not  be  disposed 
to  recommend  a  young  friend  to  take  that  trouble. 
From  the  Spanish  ambassador  I  had  every  civility, 
notwithstanding  the  pamphlet. 

So,  briefly,  was  my  first  dinner  at  Mr.  Canning's. 
Many  and  agreeable  ones  followed.  Sir  James 
Macintosh  said  of  him  in  debate,  that  he  had  in 
corporated  in  his  mind  all  the  elegance  and  wisdom 
of  ancient  literature.  It  was  a  high  tribute  from 
a  political  opponent  and  competent  judge.  Both 
were  first  rate  men,  as  well  by  native  endow 
ments  as  the  most  elaborate  cultivation,  and  both 
disciplined  by  an  advantageous  intermixture 
in  great  political  and  social  scenes ;  Macintosh 
universal  and  profound ;  Canning,  making  every 
thing  bend  to  parliamentary  supremacy ;  the  one, 
delivering  speeches  in  the  House  of  Commons  for 


262  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  philosopher  and  statesman  to  reflect  upon ; 
the  other,  winning  in  that  arena,  daily  victories. 
Both,  had  equal  power  to  charm  in  society ;  the 
one  various  and  instructive ;  the  other  intuitive 
and  brilliant ;  Macintosh,  by  his  elementary  turn, 
removed  from  all  collisions  ;  Canning,  sarcastic  as 
well  as  logical  in  debate,  and  sometimes  also  al 
lowing  his  official  pen,  to  trespass  in  the  former 
field  ;  but,  in  private  circles,  bland,  courteous  and 
yielding.  Let  me  add  that  both  were  self  made 
men ;  enjoying,  by  this  title,  the  highest  political 
consideration  and  social  esteem  in  the  most  pow 
erful  and  brilliant  circles,  hereditary  and  otherwise, 
of  the  British  empire. 

June  7.  Lord  Erskine  called  upon  me,  accord 
ing  to  promise.  First  he  spoke  of  the  bill  he  had 
lately  brought  into  the  House  of  Lords  to  prevent 
arrest  in  cases  of  libel  until  after  indictment  found, 
regretting  its  loss. 

He  touched  on  other  topics.  I  pass  by  all,  to 
come  to  what  he  said  of  Burke.  My  boys  being 
in  the  room,  he  asked  if  I  had  found  a  good  school 
for  them.  I  said  they  were  at  present  with  Mr. 
Foothead,  in  my  neighbourhood.  You  are  lucky, 
he  said,  if  Burke's  recommendation  goes  for  any 
thing,  for  he  thought  wrell  of  him  as  a  teacher  of 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  263 

the  classics.  What  a  prodigy  Burke  was,  he  ex 
claimed.  He  came  to  see  me  not  long  before  he 
died.  I  then  lived  on  Hampstead  hill.  "  Come 
Erskine"  said  he,  holding  out  his  hand,  "  let  us 
forget  all ;  1  sliall  soon  quit  this  stage,  and  wish  to 
die  in  peace  with  every  body,  especially  you"  I  re 
ciprocated  the  sentiment,  and  we  took  a  turn  round 
the  grounds.  Suddenly,  he  stopped ;  an  exten 
sive  prospect  broke  upon  him.  He  stood  as  if  rapt 
in  thought ;  gazing  on  the  gilded  scenery  of  the  sky 
as  the  sun  was  setting,  "  Ah  Erskine"  he  exclaim 
ed,  pointing  towards  it,  "  you  cannot  spoil  THAT,  be 
cause  you  cannot  REACH  it;  it  would  otherwise  go;  yes, 
the  firmament  itself — you  and  your  reformers  would 
tear  it  all  down"  I  was  pleased  with  his  friendly  fa 
miliarity,  and  we  went  into  the  house  where  kind 
feelings  between  us  were  further  improved.  A 
short  time  afterwards  he  wrote  that  attack  upon 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  Fox  and  myself,  which 
flew  all  over  England,  and  perhaps  the  United 
States  too.  All  this  his  lordship  told  in  the  best 
manner,  and  with  all  the  intonations  of  eloquence. 
In  my  form  of  repeating  it,  I  cannot  do  him  justice. 
Desiring  to  hear  something  of  Burke's  delivery 
from  so  high  a  source,  I  asked  him  about  it.  It 
was  execrable,  said  he.  I  was  in  the  House  of 
Commons  when  he  made  his  great  speech  on 


2(54  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

American  conciliation,  the  greatest  he  ever  made ; 
but  he  drove  every  body  away.  I  wanted  to  go  out 
with  the  rest,  but  was  near  him  and  afraid  to  get 
up;  so  /  squeezed  myself  down,  and  crawled 
under  the  benches  until  I  got  to  the  door  with 
out  his  seeing  me,  rejoicing  in  my  escape. 
Next  day  I  went  to  the  Isle  of  Wight.  When  the 
speech  followed  me  there,  I  read  it  over  and  over 
again ;  I  could  think  of  nothing  else ;  I  carried  it 
about  me  and  thumbed  it  until  it  got  like  wadding 
for  my  gun.  Here  he  broke  out  with  a  quotation 
from  the  passage  beginning,  "  but  what,  says  the 
financier,  is  peace  without  money,"  which  he  gave 
with  a  fervour  showing  how  he  felt  it.  He  said 
that  he  was  in  the  house  when  he  threw  a  dagger 
on  the  floor,  in  his  speech  on  the  French  revolution, 
and  it  "  had  liked  to  have  hit  my  foot."  It  was  a 
sad  failure,  he  added,  but  Burke  could  bear  it. 

He  sat  upwards  of  an  hour,  leaving  me  to  re 
gret  his  departure.  His  colloquial  eloquence  is 
not  less  than  his  forensic,  though  in  so  different  a 
way. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  265 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Dissolution  of  Parliament.  Revenue  and  resources  of  England. 
Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Impressment — the  Slave 
Trade — Commercial  Convention  of  1815.  Dinner  at  the 
Marquis  of  Stafford's.  Further  interview  with  Lord  Castle 
reagh  on  Impressment,  and  the  Slave  Trade.  The  hustings 
at  Covent  Garden.  Dinner  at  the  Chancellor  of  the  exche 
quer's. 

June  10.  PARLIAMENT  was  dissolved  by  the 
Prince  Regent  in  person.  This  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  imposing  public  ceremonies  in  Eng 
land.  It  derives  this  character,  in  part,  from  the 
manner  in  which  the  sovereign  goes  to  parliament. 

In  all  ages,  the  horse  has  helped  to  swell  the 
pornp  of  public  processions.  Dryden  renders 
Virgil's  "  bellator  equus"  led  in  the  train  of  Pallas's 
funeral,  "  the  steed  of  state"  On  this  occasion, 
the  carriage  of  the  Prince  Regent  was  drawn  by 
eight  horses,  used  only  for  this  ceremony.  They 
were  of  beautiful  form  and  richly  caparisoned  ; 

"  With  golden  bits  adorned  and  purple  reins." 

34 


255  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

The  Prince  Regent  was  perceptible  to  the 
gazing  crowds,  through  the  glass  pannels  of 
this  splendid  vehicle  of  royalty.  There  sat  with 
him  the  Duke  of  Montrose,  master  of  the  horse, 
and  Lord  Amherst,  as  lord  in  waiting.  Even 
in  the  insignia  and  decorations  of  a  state  carriage, 
England  does  not  forget  the  field  of  her  power. 
Conspicuously  upon  this,  as  if  rising  from  the 
perch,  was  a  figure  of  Neptune,  in  massive  gild 
ing.  Next  in  the  procession,  came  four  carriages 
and  six.  This  formed  the  royal  train.  It  moved 
from  St.  James's  palace,  through  the  Park,  and 
thence  came  out  under  the  archway  of  the  horse 
guards.  My  carriage  got  to  that  point,  and  stop 
ped  with  others,  as  the  whole  slowly  turned  into 
the  street.  The  sight  was  gorgeous — windows, 
balconies,  house-tops,  were  lined.  It  was  the  spot 
where  like  crowds  had  witnessed  the  execution  of 
Charles  the  First ;  the  historical  association  thus 
increasing  the  interest  of  the  spectacle.  When 
the  train  reached  the  end  of  Parliament  street,  the 
number  of  equipages  in  the  direction  of  Westmin 
ster  Abbey,  belonging  to  the  nobility  and  others, 
was  immense.  All  were  in  rows  and  glittered  in 
the  sun.  The  universal  beauty  of  the  horses, 
for  which  the  English  are  so  celebrated,  the  com 
pleteness  of  every  equipage,  the  rich  liveries  of  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  267 

numerous  servants,  the  turrets  of  the  ancient  Ab 
bey,  the  vast  multitude — altogether  presented  a 
scene  of  great  animation  and  brilliancy.  The  roy 
al  carriage  drew  up  before  the  entrance  to  the 
House  of  Lords ;  a  groom  held  each  bridle,  the 
horses  champing  the  '  foaming  gold.'  The  Prince 
Regent  on  alighting,  was  greeted  with  long  shouts. 
The  ceremony  of  the  dissolution,  took  place  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  Close  in  front  of  the  throne, 
a  space  was  set  apart  for  the  foreign  ambassadors 
and  ministers.  All  attended  in  their  national  cos 
tumes.  The  chamber,  when  I  arrived,  was  filled 
with  peers  and  peeresses,  the  former  wearing 
robes  of  scarlet  and  ermine.  In  a  little  while  the 
Prince  Regent  entered,  at  which  moment  a  salute 
of  cannon  was  heard.  A  procession  formed  by  a 
portion  of  his  cabinet  ministers,  preceded  him,  the 
premier,  Lord  Liverpool,  going  first  and  carrying 
the  sword  of  state.  The  Prince  took  his  seat  upon 
the  throne.  In  a  few  minutes,  doors  opened  at 
the  extremity  of  the  chamber,  and  the  Commons 
entered,  the  speaker  at  their  head.  They  stopped 
at  a  barrier,  from  which  the  speaker  commenced 
his  address  to  the  throne.  It  recapitulated  the 
important  business  of  the  session,  gave  a  promi 
nent  place  to  the  subject  of  income  and  expendi 
ture,  saying,  that  although  a  heavy  pressure 


RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

continued  upon  the  finances,  the  revenue  was  in 
creasing  ;  and  concluded  with  praying  the  royal 
assent  to  a  bill  of  supply  which  the  House  brought 
up,  the  last  of  a  series  that  had  been  passed.  The 
title  of  the  bill  was  read ;  on  which  a  clerk  of 
parliament  exclaimed,  "  Le  roy  remercie  ses  loyal 
subjects,  accepte  leur  benevolence  et  aussi  le  veut" 
The  titles  of  other  bills  were  successively  read, 
and  the  royal  assent  given  by  the  same  officer  pro 
nouncing  the  words,  "  Le  roy  le  veut" 

The  Prince,  who  had  not  yet  spoken,  now  ad 
dressed  both  houses.  He  said,  that  there  had 
been  no  alteration  in  the  state  of  the  king's  health ; 
that  he  continued  to  receive  from  foreign  powers, 
assurances  of  friendly  dispositions,  on  which  he 
turned  with  a  manner  appropriate  towards  the 
diplomatic  corps ;  he  thanked  the  House  of  Com 
mons  for  the  supplies  they  had  granted;  he 
informed  both  houses  of  his  intention  to  dissolve 
the  present,  and  call  a  new  parliament,  in  making 
which  communication  he  could  not,  he  said,  refrain 
from  adverting  to  the  great  changes  that  had 
occurred  since  he  first  met  them  in  that  chamber. 
Then,  the  dominion  of  Bonaparte,  whom  he  spoke 
of  as  the  " common  enemy"  had  been  so  widely 
extended,  that  longer  resistance  to  his  power  was 
by  many  deemed  hopeless ;  but  that  by  the  un- 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  269 

exampled  exertions  of  Britain,  in  co-operation 
with  other  countries,  Europe  had  been  delivered 
from  his  oppression,  and  a  contest  the  most  event 
ful  and  sanguinary  known  for  centuries,  terminated 
with  unparalleled  success  and  glory.  These  were 
the  main  points  of  the  speech.  When  it  was 
ended,  the  lord  chancellor  rose  from  the  woolsack, 
and  said,  that  it  was  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the 
Prince  Regent,  acting  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
that  the  parliament  be  dissolved;  and  he  pro 
nounced  it  to  be  dissolved  accordingly. 

The  Prince  remained  seated  whilst  delivering 

o 

his  speech,  and  wore  a  hat.  The  peers  and  com 
mons  stood,  and  were  uncovered.  Mr.  Canning, 
in  a  speech  to  his  constituents,  described  the 
British  constitution,  as  "  a  monarchy,  intended  to 
be  checked  by  two  assemblies,  one  hereditary,  in 
dependent  alike  of  crown  and  people ;  the  other 
elective,  springing  from  the  people ;  but,"  said  he, 
"  there  are  those  who  argue  as  if  it  were  originally 
a  democracy,  merely  inlaid  with  a  peerage,  and 
topped  with  a  crown"  This  passage  gives,  in  a  few 
words,  the  opposite  theories  of  antiquarians  on  the 
origin  of  the  British  constitution.  The  passing 
remark  may  be  made,  that  the  external  ceremonies 
of  government,  point  to  a  regal,  rather  than  popu 
lar  root.  They  are  strikingly  so  at  a  coronation, 


070  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

as  at  the  dissolution  of  parliament.  Take  another 
incident  at  the  latter,  in  addition  to  the  wearing  of 
the  hat.  The  clerk,  before  reading  the  title  to 
each  bill,  made  a  reverence  to  the  throne ;  and 
another,  on  laying  the  bill  down  upon  the  table. 
On  receiving  the  nod  of  royal  assent,  he  turned 
towards  the  Commons,  gave  them  a  look,  and 
barely  said,  without  any  reverence,  Le  roy  le  vent. 
The  scene  would  have  been  more  imposing,  had 
the  chamber  been  better.  It  is  not  merely  defi 
cient  in  architectural  form,  but  in  space.  The 
commons  stood  in  a  confused  heap,  pressing  one 
upon  another.  Their  own  room  below,  is  even 
inferior  in  appearance,  and  alike  inconveniently 
small.  Both  may  have  answered  their  original 
uses  centuries  ago,  one  as  a  banqueting  room,  the 
other  as  a  chapel  to  a  palace ;  but  are  unsuited  to 
the  present  accommodation  of  parliament.  The 
mode  of  giving  the  royal  assent  to  bills,  I  had  read 
in  books  ;  yet,  it  sounded  strangely  in  my  ears  for 
the  first  time,  as  a  fact.  Blackstone  remarks  that 
these  old  words  serve  as  a  memento,  that  the 
liberties  of  England  were  once  destroyed  by 
foreign  force,  and  may  be  again,  but  for  vigilance • 
The  remark  is  a  strained  one,  in  this  connexion. 
England  balanced  the  account  of  warlike  exploits 
with  France,  in  the  days  of  her  Edwards  and 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  271 

Henries ;  and  her  own  sovereign  at  last  gave  up 
his  titular  claim  to  be  king  of  France.  Hence  it 
would  seem,  that  this  little  badge  of  the  Norman 
conquest,  might  now  be  allowed  to  drop  off  too. 
It  was  discontinued  under  the  protectorate  of 
Cromwell,  the  form  in  his  time  being,  "  the  Lord 
Protector  doth  consent"  His  words  of  acknowledg 
ment  for  bills  of  supply  were,  "  understanding  it 
hath  been  the  practice  of  those  who  have  been  chief 
governors,  to  acknowledge,  with  thanks  to  the  com 
mons,  their  care  and  regard  for  the  public,  I  do  very 
heartily  and  thankfully  acknowledge  their  kindness 
therein."  When  the  commonwealth  ended,  the 
foreign  jargon  revived. 

The  speaker  in  his  address,  stated  that  the 
revenue  was  increasing.  I  cannot  pass  this  sub 
ject  by.  The  income  for  the  year,  was  ffty  one 
millions  of  pounds  sterling  The  largest  item  was 
from  the  excise,  which  yielded  upwards  of  twrenty 
one  millions.  The  customs  stood  next.  They 
gave  upwards  of  eleven  millions.  The  assessed 
and  land  taxes,  third ;  from  which  eight  millions 
were  obtained  ;  the  stamps  fourth,  which  produced 
seven  millions.  The  remainder  was  from  the  post 
office  and  miscellaneous  sources.  Large  as  this 
sum  may  appear  for  the  produce  of  one  year's 
taxes,  it  is  less,  by  more  than  twenty  millions,  than 


272  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

was  raised  two  years  ago,  the  property  tax  and 
certain  war  duties  being  then  in  force.  It  may 
safely  be  affirmed,  that  no  nation,  ancient  or 
modern,  of  the  same  population,  has  ever  before 
paid  so  much  under  the  regular  operation  of  tax 
laws.  Of  the  excise,  I  understand  that  the  whole 
amount  due  for  the  year  has  actually  been  paid  in, 
except  a  fraction  of  about  five  thousand  pounds, 
part  of  which  it  is  believed  will  be  recovered.  So 
exceedingly  small  a  deficiency  on  a  basis  of  twenty 
one  millions,  manifests  an  extraordinary  ability  on 
the  part  of  the  community  at  large,  to  meet  with 
punctuality  the  demands  of  the  government,  under 
this  branch  of  internal  taxation.  Besides  the  fifty 
one  millions,  which  make  up  the  national  taxes 
proper,  for  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  sums 
levied  on  account  of  poor  rates  for  England  during 
the  year,  have  amounted  to  nine  millions. 

The  exports  from  the  kingdom  for  the  same 
time,  amounted,  in  value,  to  fifty  three  millions  of 
pounds  sterling.  The  manufactures  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  constituted  four  fifths  of  this  sum. 
Actual  value  is  here  meant,  as  contradistinguished 
from  official ;  the  latter  assuming  a  certain  stand 
ard  of  price,  fixed  more  than  a  century  ago,  and 
no  longer  applicable  as  a  measure  of  value.  The 
imports  amounted  to  thirty  four  millions ;  consi- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  273 

derably  less  therefore  than  the  value  of  manufac 
tured  articles  exported. 

Expenditure  for  the  year,  has  been  about  the 
same  as  income,  and  in  its  great  branches,  may  be 
classed  thus :  For  interest  on  the  public  debt, 
twenty  nine  millions.  For  the  army,  nine  millions ; 
the  military  force  on  the  present  peace  establish 
ment,  amounting  to  about  a  hundred  thousand  men. 
For  the  navy,  seven  millions ;  the  peace  establish 
ment  of  that  arm  being  one  hundred  and  thirty 
ships,  twenty  thousand  seamen,  and  six  thousand 
marines.  For  the  ordnance,  one  million.  The 
civil  list,  and  miscellaneous  items  absorb  the  resi 
due.  In  statements  whether  of  British  income  or 
expenditure,  I  observe,  that  fractions  of  a  million 
or  two,  seem  to  be  unconsidered.  They  are 
scarcely  understood  but  by  those  who  will  be  at 
the  pains  of  tracing  them  amidst  the  rubbish  of 
accounts,  and  not  always  then. 

As  to  the  debt,  what  shall  I  say  ?  If  I  specify 
any  sum,  I  may,  unconsciously,  commit  a  fractional 
error  of  fifty  millions  !  To  find  out  precisely  what 
it  is,  seems  to  baffle  inquiry.  Dr.  Hamilton  in  his 
work  on  this  subject,  states  a  curious  fact.  He 
says,  that  in  an  account  of  the  public  debt  present 
ed  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  1799,  it  was  found 

impossible  to  ascertain  the  sums  raised  at  different 

35 


274  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

periods  which  created  the  funds  existing  prior  to 
the  thirty-third  year  of  George  the  Third.  So  they 
have  a  saying  in  Amsterdam,  that  when  their 
grand  town-house  was  completed  a  century  or  two 
ago,  the  bills  were  all  destroyed,  that  the  econo 
mical  prudence  of  the  Dutch  in  after  ages  might 
not  be  pained  by  the  authentic  knowledge  of  their 
amount ;  and  that  no  one  now  knows  what  the 
building  cost.  The  above  candid  avowal  of  igno 
rance  as  to  the  national  debt  of  England  where  all 
official  means  of  information  were  at  command, 
may  well  excuse,  as  the  learned  author  referred  to 
remarks,  a  private  inquirer  if  his  statements  be 
imperfect ;  but  I  will  set  the  debt  down  at  EIGHT 
HUNDRED  MILLIONS.  This,  as  an  absolute  sum, 
strikes  the  world  as  enormous.  It  loses  that  cha 
racter  when  viewed  in  connexion  with  the  resour 
ces  of  Great  Britain,  the  latter  having  increased 
in  a  ratio  greater  than  her  debt ;  a  position  sus 
ceptible  of  demonstration.  It  may  be  proof 
enough,  that,  in  the  face  of  this  debt,  her  govern 
ment  could  at  any  moment  borrow  from  British 
capitalists  fresh  sums  larger  than  were  ever  bor 
rowed  before  ;  or  than  could  be  raised  by  the 
united  exertions  of  all  the  governments  of  Europe. 
Credit  so  unbounded,  can  rest  only  upon  the  known 
extent  and  solidity  of  her  resources;  upon  her 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  275 

agricultural,  manufacturing  and  commercial  riches ; 
the  first  coming  from  her  highly  cultivated  soil  and 
its  exhaustless  mines,  not  of  gold  and  silver,  but  iron 
and  coal,  forever  profitably  worked  ;  the  second, 
from  the  various  and  universal  labour  bestowed 
on  raw  materials,  which  brings  into  play  all  the 
industry  of  her  people,  suffering  none  to  be  lost  for 
want  of  objects ;  the  third,  from  the  policy  of  her 
navigation  laws,  and  those  of  trade,  followed  up 
for  ages,  which  enables  her  to  send  to  every  part  of 
the  globe  the  products  of  this  vast  and  diversified 
industry,  after  supplying  all  her  own  wants.  This 
system  of  navigation  and  trade,  is  greatly  sustain 
ed  by  a  colonial  empire  of  gigantic  size,  that  per 
petually  increases  the  demand  for  her  manufactures 
and  favours  the  monopoly  of  her  tonnage. 

These  are  the  grand  and  visible  foundations 
of  her  incalculable  riches,  and  corresponding 
credit.  Both  seem  to  be  incessantly  augment 
ing.  It  is  remarkable,  that  she  extends  both  in 
the  midst  of  wars,  however  prolonged  and  sangui 
nary.  What  cripples  the  resources  of  other  na 
tions,  serves  but  invigorate  and  multiply  hers. 
Not  long  ago  I  went  to  Guildhall,  to  witness  the 
sittings  of  the  King's  Bench,  after  term  time.  The 
court  room  was  so  full,  that  I  could  hear  or  see 
little,  and  soon  left  it ;  but  I  was  compensated  by 


276  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

loitering  among  the  monuments  in  the  hall  close 
by.  The  inscription  on  Lord  Chatham's  drew  my 
attention  most,  because  Americans  hang  with  re 
verence  on  his  name,  and  because  of  the  inscription 
itself.  It  dwells  upon  the  services  he  rendered  his 
country,  by  "  UNITING  COMMERCE  WITH,  AND  MAKING 
IT  FLOURISH  DURING,  WAR."  Such  was  his  title  to 
fame,  recorded  on  the  marble !  Other  nations 
should  look  at  it.  War,  by  creating  new  markets, 
gives  a  stimulus  to  industry,  calls  out  capital,  and 
may  increase  not  merely  the  fictitious  but  positive 
wealth  of  the  country  carrying  it  on,  where  the 
country  is  powerful  and  not  the  seat  of  war.  Mos 
cow  may  be  burned  ;  Vienna,  Berlin,  Paris,  sack 
ed  ;  but  it  is  always,  said  Franklin,  peace  in  Lon 
don.  The  British  moralist  may  be  slow  to  think, 
that  it  is  during  war  that  the  riches  and  power 
of  Britain  are  most  advanced  ;  but  it  is  the  law  of 
her  insular  situation  and  maritime  ascendency. 
The  political  economist  may  strive  to  reason  it 
down,  but  facts  confound  him.  It  has  been  sig 
nally  confirmed,  since  engraven  on  the  monument 
of  Lord  Chatham.  The  Prince  Regent  pronounced 
the  contest  with  Bonaparte,  the  most  eventful  and 
sanguinary  known  for  centuries ;  yet,  at  its  ter 
mination,  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons 
declared,  whilst  the  representatives  of  foreign 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  277 

nations  stood  listening,  THAT  THE  REVENUES  OF 
BRITAIN  WERE  INCREASING.  What  a  fact !  Let 
Europe  and  the  world  bear  it  in  mind.  Let  it  be 
looked  at  in  connexion  with  its  past  causes ;  and, 
prospectively,  as  portending  future  effects.  The 
Abbe  Du  Pradt  has  remarked,  that  England 
threatens  all  the  wealth,  and  Russia  all  the  liberty 
of  Europe.  Up  to  the  first  origin  of  the  contest 
with  Bonaparte,  the  largest  sum  England  ever 
raised  by  taxes  in  any  one  year  of  war  or  peace, 
was  seventeen  millions  sterling.  In  twenty-five 
years,  when  that  contest  was  over,  she  raised 
hardly  less  than  eighty  millions  !  This  sum  was 
paid  indeed  in  the  midst  of  complaints ;  but  not 
more  than  in  Queen  Anne's  time,  when  the  taxes 
were  three  millions,  and  debt  forty ;  or  at  the  end 
of  George  the  Second's,  when  the  former  had  risen 
to  seven,  and  the  latter  to  a  hundred  millions.  It 
was  also  in  1815,  at  the  close  of  the  same  con 
test,  that  the  world  beheld  her  naval  power  more 
than  doubled ;  whilst  that  of  other  states  of  Eu 
rope  was,  in  a  proportion  still  greater,  diminished. 
Hitherto,  at  the  commencement  of  wars,  the  fleets 
of  France,  of  Spain,  of  Holland,  if  not  a  match  for 
those  of  England,  could  make  a  show  of  resistance  ; 
their  concerted  movements,  were  at  least  able  to 
hold  her  in  temporary  check.  Where  are  the 


278  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

navies  of  these  powers  now  ?  or  those  of  the  Bal 
tic  ?  Some  gone  almost  totally ;  the  rest  destined 
to  be  withdrawn  from  the  seas,  on  the  first  war 
with  England.  There  is  nothing,  singly  or  com 
bined,  as  far  as  Europe  is  concerned,  to  make 
head  against  her.  France  is  anxious  to  revive  her 
navy ;  she  builds  good  ships ;  has  brave  and  sci 
entific  officers.  So,  Russia.  But  where  are  the 
essential  sources  of  naval  power  in  either  ?  where 
their  sailors,  trained  in  a  great  mercantile  marine  ? 
Both  together  have  not  as  many,  of  this  descrip 
tion,  as  the  United  States.  England  then,  in  her 
next  war,  will  accomplish  more,  as  against  Europe, 
upon  this  element,  than  at  any  former  period ;  she 
will  start,  instead  of  ending,  with  her  supremacy 
completely  established.  The  displays  of  her 
power,  will  be  more  immediate,  as  well  as  more 
formidable,  than  the  world  has  before  seen.  I  will 
not  speak  of  a  new  agent  in  navigation,  that  walks, 
as  Mr.  Canning  said,  like  a  giant  on  the  water, 
controlling  winds  and  waves.  This  great  gift  to 
mankind,  in  its  first  efficient  power  upon  the  water, 
was  from  the  United  States ;  but  all  Europe  will 
feel  the  effect  of  navies  moved  by  steam,  in  the 
hands  of  Britain. 

I  had  intended  to  say  something  of  public  speak 
ing.     The  dissolution  of  parliament  might  suggest 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  279 

the  topic  ;  but  I  defer  it.  I  have  desired,  hereto 
fore,  to  make  a  minute  of  my  impressions  on  this 
subject.  I  have  heard  debates  in  both  houses ; 
but  the  occasions  have  been  unfavourable  for  call 
ing  up  the  leading  orators,  or  drawing  them  fully 
out  if  they  rose.  I  wait  further  lights,  with  the 
simple  remark,  that  the  speaking  I  have  yet  heard, 
taking  its  average  quality,  has  been  best,  accord 
ing  to  my  judgment,  in  the  House  of  Lords.  My 
previous  anticipations  would  not  have  led  me  to 
form  this  opinion. 

June  11.  Had  an  interview  with  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  on  his  invitation.  He  informed  me,  that  he 
had  brought  before  the  cabinet  my  proposal  on 
impressment  and  that  it  had  been  considered  with 
the  care  due  to  its  importance. 

He  went  into  some  of  the  arguments  to  which 
the  subject  always  leads.  He  adverted,  first,  to 
the  opposite  opinions  which  the  two  governments 
hold  on  the  doctrine  of  allegiance.  Next  he  re 
marked,  that  we  gave  to  our  ships  a  character  of 
inviolability  that  Britain  did  not  -,  that  we  consi 
dered  them  as  part  of  our  soil,  clothing  them  with 
like  immunities.  I  said  that  we  did  consider  them 
as  thus  inviolable,  so  far  as  to  afford  protection  to 
our  seamen;  but  that  we  had  never  sought  to 


280  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

exempt  them  from  search  for  rightful  purposes ; 
viz.  for  enemy's  property,  articles  contraband  of  war, 
or  men  in  the  land  or  naval  service  of  the  enemy. 
These  constituted  the  utmost  limit  of  the  bellige 
rent  claim,  as  we  understood  the  law  of  nations. 
What  we  objected  to  was,  that  Britain,  passing 
this  limit,  should  advance  a  claim  to  enforce  her 
own  municipal  code  relating  to  allegiance  and 
impressment,  on  board  our  vessels  on  the  high  seas. 
His  lordship  did  not  view  it  in  this  light.  He  was 
forced,  he  said,  to  add,  that  on  a  full  consideration 
of  my  proposal,  the  cabinet  had  not  found  it  prac 
ticable  to  forego  under  any  arrangement,  the  exe 
cution  of  which  was  to  depend  upon  the  legislative 
ordinances  of  another  country,  the  right  of  Great 
Britain  to  look  for  her  subjects  upon  the  high  seas, 
into  whatever  service  they  might  wander. 

The  proposal  thus  rejected,  having  declared  the 
readiness  of  the  United  States  to  impose  further 
restraints  upon  the  naturalization  of  British  sea 
men,  and  exclude  from  their  ships  all  not  natura 
lized,  I  asked  his  lordship  what  difference  it  would 
make  if  the  United  States  would  agree  to  exclude 
from  their  ships  of  war  and  merchant  vessels,  all 
natural  born  subjects  of  Great  Britain. 

He  replied,  that  this  indeed  would  be  going  a 
step  farther,  but  that  it  would  still  leave  the  pro- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  2SI 

posal  within  the  principle  of  their  objection.  That 
the  objection  rested  upon  an  unwillingness  to  con 
cede  by  treaty  or  convention,  whatever  its  terms, 
the  right  of  entering  the  vessels  of  a  foreign  power 
to  search  for  their  subjects. 

I  said,  that  I  heard  this  determination  with  re 
gret.  I  had  been  ready,  otherwise,  to  submit  a 
proposal  to  the  effect  last  mentioned.  My  regret 
was  the  stronger,  as  it  would  exhaust  all  the  offers 
the  United  States  could  make.  I  requested  him, 
in  fact,  to  consider  such  an  offer  as  actually  made, 
under  full  authority  from  my  government. 

I  now  inquired,  if  any  proposals  would  be  sub 
mitted  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  His  lordship 
was  prepared  with  none  which  did  not  assume  as 
a  basis,  the  right  of  entering  our  vessels.  For  the 
exercise  of  this  right  in  a  manner  not  to  injure  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain  was  willing,  he  said, 
to  come  into  the  most  effective  regulations  ;  such 
as  restricting  the  boarding  officers  to  those  of  rank 
not  below  lieutenants ;  giving  responsible  receipts 
for  the  men  taken  out,  or  any  other  safeguards 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  might 
propose  as  better  adapted  to  the  end ;  that  she 
would  receive,  and  in  the  most  friendly  manner 
discuss,  such  proposals,  in  the  hope  of  some  satis 
factory  arrangement.  I  said  that  the  United 

36 


282  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

States  never  could  admit  the  right  to  enter  their 
vessels  for  such  a  purpose  as  impressment.  Be 
sides  the  objection  to  it  in  principle,  the  practice, 
however  attempted  to  be  softened,  must  be  liable, 
from  causes  that  were  insurmountable  as  between 
the  two  nations,  to  perpetual  and  fatal  abuse. 
This  had  been  shown  by  an  amount  and 
aggravation  of  past  experience,  to  which  it  was 
impossible  to  remain  blind.  His  lordship  again 
admitted  the  evils  of  which  it  had  been  the  parent, 
expressing  his  hope  that  they  might  never  recur. 

He  next  spoke  of  the  slave  trade.  Great  Britain 
he  said  had  concluded  treaties  with  three  of  the 
powers  of  Europe  on  this  subject ;  Portugal,  Spain 
and  the  Netherlands.  Portugal  had  agreed  to 
abolish  the  trade,  except  in  certain  specified  places 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  south  of  the  equator ;  Spain 
north  of  the  equator,  from  the  time  of  the  ratifica 
tion  of  her  treaty,  and  in  all  other  parts,  after  May 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty.  To  these  powers, 
Britain  had  paid,  from  first  to  last,  seven  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  as  inducements  to  the  treaties. 
The  clauses  stated  the  money  to  be  as  compensa 
tion  to  Spanish  and  Portuguese  subjects,  for  the 
loss  of  the  trade.  The  Netherlands  had  agreed  to 
abolish  it,  immediately  and  totally,  without  pecuniary 
inducement.  The  purport  of  the  treaties,  speaking 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  283 

more  particularly  of  the  last,  was,  that  the  con 
tracting  parties  were  to  authorise  a  limited  number 
of  the  ships  of  their  navy  to  search  the  merchant 
vessels  of  each  other,  found  under  circumstances 
to  raise  suspicion  of  being  engaged  in  the  trade ; 
and  in  case  of  slaves  being  actually  on  board,  to 
send  the  vessels  in  for  trial ;  the  tribunals  to  con 
sist  of  mixed  courts,  composed  of  judges,  or  com 
missioners,  appointed  by  each  power ;  the  courts 
to  hold  their  sittings  within  the  territories  or  de 
pendencies  of  each  power,  but  one  always  to  be 
established  on  the  coast  of  Africa ;  no  search  to 
be  permitted  in  the  Mediterranean,  or  any  of  the 
European  seas  north  of  latitude  thirty  seven,  or 
within  and  eastward  of  longitude  twenty.  These 
were  some  of  the  main  provisions  of  the  treaties. 
There  were  various  others,  designed  to  guard 
against  irregularity  in  the  exercise  of  a  right  which 
the  contracting  parties  had  mutually  conceded  for 
the  common  object.  The  period  had  arrived,  his 
lordship  continued,  when  it  was  the  wish  of  Great 
Britain  to  invite  the  United  States  to  join  in  these 
measures,  and  it  was  his  design  to  submit,  through 
me,  proposals  to  that  effect.  It  had  occurred  to 
him  to  send  me,  with  an  official  note,  authentic 
copies  of  the  treaties  themselves  ;  they  would  best 
unfold,  in  all  their  details,  the  grounds  on  which  a 


284  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

concert  of  action  had  been  settled  with  other  pow 
ers,  and  it  was  on  similar  grounds  he  meant  to  ask 
the  accession  of  the  United  States,  anticipating 
large  benefits  from  their  maritime  co-operation  in 
this  great  work  of  humanity.  Whilst  it  had  oc 
curred  to  him  to  make  the  overture  to  my  govern 
ment  in  this  manner,  he  said  that  if  any  other 
course  presented  itself  to  me  as  better  adapted  to 
the  end,  he  would  be  happy  to  listen  to  it. 

I  replied,  that  I  knew  of  none  better.  I  was 
altogether  devoid  of  instructions  on  the  subject 
as  already  stated,  but  would  transmit  the  treaties 
for  the  consideration  of  the  President.  The  United 
States,  from  an  early  day,  had  regarded  this 
traffic  with  uniform  disapprobation  ;  and  for  many 
years,  it  had  been  altogether  prohibited  by  their 
statutes.  The  existence  of  slavery  in  several  of  the 
states  of  the  American  Union,  had  nothing  to  do, 
I  remarked,  with  the  slave  trade.  The  former 
grew  up  with  the  policy  of  the  parent  country 
anterior  to  the  independence  of  the  United  States, 
and  remained  incorporated  with  the  domestic  laws 
of  the  particular  states  where  it  had  been  so  intro 
duced,  and  always  existed.  Yet,  those  who  could 
not  allow  their  laws  in  this  respect  to  be  touched, 
went  hand  and  heart  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow 
citizens  in  desiring  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade. 


1 S 1 8.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  035 

Lastly,  his  lordship  spoke  of  the  commercial 
convention  of  1815.  He  reminded  me  that  it  had 
but  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth  to  run,  asking 
if  I  knew  the  views  of  my  government  in  regard 
to  its  renewal.  I  said  not  precisely,  but  expected 
soon  to  ascertain  them. 

June  12.  Dined  at  the  Marquis  of  Stafford's. 
I  am  no  votary  of  the  rout ;  but  the  private  dinner 
party  in  England  shows  society  under  a  different 
aspect.  The  diplomatic  stranger  can  hardly  com 
mand  other  opportunities  of  seeing  it  to  advantage. 
Evening  visits  he  cannot  make ;  the  late  hour  of 
dining  is  an  obstacle.  Morning  calls  are  a  mere 
ceremony,  performed  for  the  most  part  by  his  card ; 
and  midnight  crowds  are  not  society.  It  is  only 
at  dinners  that  he  finds  it. 

These  seem  the  chosen  scenes  of  English  hospi 
tality.  They  are  seldom  large.  Mr.  Jefferson's  rule 
was,  and  he  knew  how  to  appreciate  the  refinements 
of  social  life,  not  fewer  than  the  graces,  nor  more 
than  the  muses ;  within  which  limits,  conversation 
might  be  kept  general — always  its  highest  though 
most  difficult  recommendation,  implying  constant 
forbearance,  not  less  than  ease  and  discipline,  in  all 
the  company.  At  the  London  dinners,  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen  seem  a  favourite  number.  Often  they  are 


286  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

smaller.  Individual  character  and  accomplish 
ments,  reserved  at  first  in  these  classes,  here  begin 
to  open.  Sully,  after  Paulus  ^Emilius,  said,  that 
to  marshal  an  army  and  order  an  entertainment, 
were  equally  difficult.  Those  of  which  I  would 
speak,  present  no  discordant  feelings  or  topics. 
All  obey  forms  with  which  all  are  familiar,  as  well 
those  which  relate  to  personal  observances,  as 
those  that  regulate  conversation ;  and  thus  the  latter 
is  carried  on  under  common  contributions  and 
well-observed  restraints.  There  is  no  ambition 
for  effect ;  never  any  for  victory ;  to  give  pleasure, 
not  try  strength,  being  the  common  aim.  In  the 
whole  tone,  you  remark  nothing  so  much  as  a 
certain  simplicity,  the  last  attainment  of  high  edu 
cation  and  practised  intercourse. 

Alluding  to  such  characteristics,  I  proceed  a 
little  further ;  I  would  raise,  as  far  as  I  may,  the 
curtain  of  these  sanctuaries,  in  another  sense.  I 
would  show  the  tables,  in  their  orderly  and  beau 
tiful  arrangements ;  all  alike,  yet  all  varying — 
alike  in  general  conformity — varying  as  taste 
varies,  where  there  is  self-confidence  in  its  indul 
gence,  and  all  have  the  means  of  indulging  it. 
The  word  fashion,  I  have  not  heard,  nor  seen  its 
principle,  in  mere  imitation.  The  servants,  are 
always  in  full  number,  and  so  trained  as  to  leave 


1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  287 

to  the  master  and  mistress  no  care  but  that  of 
entertaining  their  guests.  The  quantity  of  silver, 
strikes  me  as  among  the  evidences  of  a  boundless 
opulence.  Every  day — every  where — its  glittering 
masses  attract  the  eye ;  plates  through  constant 
changes ;  dishes  and  other  articles  the  most 
massive,  whether  for  use  or  embellishment ; 
the  full  service,  as  seen  at  first,  or  disclosed 
through  the  various  courses,  exhibiting  an  as 
pect  of  surpassing  lustre.  Not  unfrequently  the 
fretted  workmanship  and  romantic  patterns  of  past 
ages  still  remain;  pointing,  like  family  paintings,  to 
different  epochs  of  time,  and  seeming  to  be  cher 
ished  with  almost  a  like  feeling.  Foreigners,  from 
whatever  part  of  Europe,  are  in  like  manner  struck 
with  this  profusion  of  solid  and  sumptuous  plate 
upon  English  tables,  as  unknown  in  any  other 
capital  to  an  extent  at  all  approaching  to  compa 
rison.  The  possessors  long  accustomed  to  it  all, 
seem  unconscious  of  its  presence ;  but  the  for 
eigner  sees  in  it,  the  national  as  individual  riches. 
Whence  proceed,  he  asks  himself,  the  incomes 
that  retain,  and  continue  to  acquire  in  fresh  accu 
mulation,  luxuries  so  costly,  but  from  the  land  ? 
and  what  would  be  the  land,  with  the  works  upon 
it ;  what  the  crops  on  its  surface,  or  mines  under 
neath,  but  for  the  manufactures  and  trade  of  the 


288  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

country,  which  bring  all  into  value  by  a  vast  and 
increasing  demand ;  increasing  at  home,  as  abroad ; 
in  war,  as  in  peace  ? 

Our  dinner  to-day  illustrated,  as  one  instance 
might,  the  general  characteristics  alluded  to.  It 
was  not  large.  Lord  and  Lady  Stafford,  the  Earl 
and  Countess  of  Surry,  Lady  Elizabeth  Levison 
Gower,  Lord  Francis  Gower,  and  a  few  more, 
made  the  party.  The  country  life  in  England, 
was  much  spoken  of;  also  the  literary  publications 
of  the  day,  this  family  being  distinguished  by  the 
literary  accomplishments  of  its  members.  The 
paintings  of  the  masters  hung  all  around  us.  Our 
hospitable  entertainers  invited  Mrs.  Rush  and  my 
self  to  visit  them  at  their  seat,  Trentham,  in  Staf 
fordshire,  than  which  we  could  not  have  known  a 
higher  gratification.  Another  topic,  always  grate 
ful,  was  not  passed  by;  our  country.  Cordial 
things  were  said  of  it,  and  enlightened  wishes  ex 
pressed,  that  two  nations  so  connected  as  England 
and  the  United  States,  might  long  see  their  way 
to  mutual  good  will !  Leaving  the  table,  we  were 
an  hour  in  the  drawing  rooms,  always  an  agree 
able  close  to  English  dinners.  On  entering  them, 
the  cup  of  Mocha  coffee  is  handed ;  to  which, 
after  a  short  interval,  tea  succeeds.  Ladies  make 
part  of  these  dinners,  heightening  their  attractive- 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  289 

ness;  they  leave  the  table  first,  the  gentlemen 
soon  following  and  rising  altogether ;  on  no  oc 
casion  have  I  observed  any  one  leave  the  table, 
until  all  rise.  We  had  music  from  St.  James's 
park,  into  which  the  windows  of  Stafford  house 
look.  Its  notes  were  the  softer  from  the  stillness 
of  that  scene,  and  the  breezes  of  a  charming 
summer  night. 

June  20.  Had  an  interview  with  Lord  Castle- 
reagh.  He  read  the  first  draught  of  a  note  to  me, 
inviting  the  United  States  to  co-operate  in  putting 
down  the  slave  trade,  asking  my  suggestions  as  to 
any  modifications.  I  had  none  to  offer  ;  and  it  was 
accordingly  sent  as  prepared.  I  drew  up  an  an 
swer,  to  the  general  effect  of  the  sentiments  I  had 
expressed  in  our  conversations,  promising  to  refer 
the  whole  subject  to  my  government. 

I  now  renewed  the  topic  of  impressment.  Al 
though  in  our  conference  of  the  eleventh,  I  had 
made  known  the  willingness  of  the  United  States  to 
exclude  from  their  naval  and  merchant  service  all 
British  seamen,  native  as  well  as  naturalized,  I  did 
not  think  proper  to  let  the  proposition  rest  on  the 
footing  of  a  verbal  offer,  but  reduced  it  to  writing, 
in  terms  as  follow  : 

"  The  proposal  submitted  by  the  Undersigned  to 
37 


290  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Lord  Castlereagh,  upon  the  subject  of  impressment, 
on  the  eighteenth  of  April,  not  being  found  accept 
able,  he  has  the  honour  to  offer  on  behalf  of  his 
government,  the  following.  Each  nation  rigidly 
to  exclude  from  service  on  board  of  their  ships  of 
war  and  merchant  vessels,  all  native  born  subjects, 
or  citizens  of  the  other.  The  checks  and  precau 
tions  stated  in  the  former  paper,  to  guard  against 
fraudulent  naturalization,  to  be  resorted  to  (with 
the  proper  modifications)  to  prevent  imposition 
relative  to  the  birth  place  of  seamen,  or  others 
adopted.  Seamen  already  naturalized  in  the 
United  States,  to  be  excluded  from  the  operation 
of  the  agreement,  as  these,  by  their  laws,  cannot 
be  included.  The  number  of  this  class  is  believed 
to  be  small,  and  in  a  short  time  would  cease  alto 
gether.  Although  the  stipulation  for  exclusion 
must  be  reciprocal,  a  provision  to  be  inserted  au 
thorising  the  United  States,  if  so  disposed,  to 
dispense  with  the  obligations  it  would  impose  on 
their  own  seamen,  whenever  the  latter  may  choose 
of  their  own  accord  to  enter  the  British  service  ; 
this  power  of  dispensation  to  be  reciprocal,  if 
desired. 

"  Should  the  above  proposal  be  accepted,  it  Avill 
follow,  that  all  British  seamen  or  subjects  now  in 
the  United  States,  and  not  heretofore  naturalized, 


1 8 1 8 .1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  291 

will  be  excluded  from  their  sea  service,  and  that 
all  who  arrive  in  future  will  be  excluded.     Great 
Britain,  on  her  part,  to  come  into  a  distinct  stipu 
lation,  not  to  impress  men  out  of  American  ves 
sels."     R.  R. 

I  handed  this  paper  to  his  lordship.  The  pro 
posal  had,  as  I  knew,  been  rejected ;  but  I  knew 
the  President's  desire  to  settle  this  great  question, 
and  believed  that  I  should  be  more  truly  the  organ 
of  his  will,  by  putting  the  proposal  in  a  shape  in 
which  it  might  go  upon  the  archives  of  his  majes 
ty's  government.  I  even  cherished  the  hope,  that 
other  views  might  yet  be  taken  of  it  by  Great  Bri 
tain.  His  lordship,  on  reading  the  paper  said,  that 
he  would  lay  it  before  the  cabinet  on  his  return 
from  Ireland,  whither  he  was  going  the  day  follow 
ing,  and  should  the  proposal,  now  that  it  had  taken 
this  form,  still  be  objected  to,  perhaps  it  might  be 
thought  adviseable  to  put  in  wrriting  the  counter 
opinions  of  Great  Britain.  Nothing  further  passed 
at  this  interview. 

The  general  election  for  a  new  House  of 
Commons  being  in  progress,  and  the  hustings 
at  Coverit  Garden  open,  I  said,  when  about  to 
come  away,  that  I  intended  to  go  there.  If  you 
can  wait  a  few  minutes,  said  his  lordship,  I 
will  go  with  you  ;  I  want  to  vote.  I  replied,  that 


292  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

I  should  be  happy  to  go  under  such  auspices. 
You  might  have  better,  he  remarked.  At  this 
moment  Sir  William  Scott  was  announced,  and  I 
took  my  leave,  finding  my  own  way  to  the  hust 
ings.  They  gave  a  repulsive  picture  of  an  English 
election.  Sir  Murray  Maxwell,  was  the  ministe 
rial  candidate ;  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  Sir  Samuel 
Romilly,  and  Mr.  Hunt,  on  the  other  side.  The 
first  was  not  only  hissed  and  hooted  in  the  most  vio 
lent  manner  by  the  populace,  but  on  a  former  day 
had  been  wounded  by  missiles.  He  appeared  with 
his  arm  tied  up,  and  a  bandage  over  his  eye.  I  was 
glad  to  get  away  from  such  a  scene  of  tumult.  In 
a  little  while  Lord  Castlcreagh  arrived.  His  re 
mark  was  prophetic  ;  for  he  was  literally  mobbed. 
Having  given  his  vote  for  Sir  Murray  Maxwell,  viva 
voce,  as  the  English  custom  is,  he  was  recognized, 
and  four  or  five  hundred  of  the  people  under  the 
opposite  banners,  pursued  him.  He  took  refuge 
in  a  shop  in  Leicester  square,  where  he  was  oblig 
ed  to  escape  by  a  back  way,  until  finally  he  found 
shelter  in  the  admiralty.  If  the  ministerial  candi 
date,  and  his  supporters  were  thus  roughly  treat 
ed,  they  bore  it  with  the  greatest  composure. 
The  former  on  re-appearing  after  his  wounds, 
again  mounted  the  hustings  to  make  a  speech. 
Being  told  that  pains  would  be  taken  to  disco- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  393 

ver  and  punish  the  authors  of  the  outrage,  he 
forbad  all  inquiry,  saying  he  had  no  doubt  they 
acted  thoughtlessly,  without  any  intention  of  hurt 
ing  him ;  a  stroke  of  policy  that  brought  him  fresh 
votes.  As  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  I  was  informed, 
that,  on  reaching  the  admiralty,  he  turned  round 
and  with  cool  complaisance  thanked  his  pursuers, 
then  close  upon  him,  for  their  escort,  saying  that 
he  would  not  trouble  them  to  accompany  him 
farther ;  which  drew  huzzas  also  in  his  favour. 

July  1 .  Dined  at  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer's. 
His  residence  is  in  Downing  street ;  I  may  add 
that  it  is  historical.  His  dining  room  was  once 
Mr.  Pitt's,  who  lived  here  while  prime  minister ; 
and  still  earlier,  it  was  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  resi 
dence.  A  portrait  of  the  latter,  hung  on  the  wall ; 
in  gazing  on  which  you  beheld  the  composed  counte 
nance  that  enabled  him  to  sit  unmoved  under  the 
batteries  of  Wyndham,  and  Shippen,  and  Pultney. 
There  were  at  table,  Mr.  and  Miss  Vansittart,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  East,  Lord  Harro  wby ,  the  ambassador  from 
the  Netherlands,  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Mr.  Ar- 
buthnot  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  Mr.  M'Kensie. 

Mr.  Pitt  was  spoken  of.  Lord  Harrowby  said, 
that  he  was  a  fine  Greek  scholar ;  also  that  he 
had  retained  with  singular  accuracy  his  mathema- 


294  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tics  acquired  at  school.  He  spoke  of  Lord 
Grenville's  attainments  as  a  classic,  particularly  in 
Greek,  arid  his  skill  in  languages  generally,  of 
which  he  knew  a  great  many.  Lord  Harrowby 
himself  has  high  reputation  in  this  line,  modern 
languages,  as  well  as  the  classics,  being  at  his  com 
mand  in  great  purity.  He  spoke  of  words  that 
had  obtained  a  sanction  in  the  United  States,  in  the 
condemnation  of  which  he  could  not  join ;  as  for 
example,  lengthy,  which  imported  he  said  what  was 
tedious  as  well  as  long,  an  idea  that  no  other 
English  word  seemed  to  convey  as  well.  I  re 
marked,  that  we  were  unfortunate  in  the  United 
States ;  for  that  if  persons,  no  matter  how  illiterate, 
used  wrong  words,  they  were  brought  to  light  as 
Americanisms,  whereas  in  other  countries  such 
things  were  passed  by  as  vulgarisms ;  thank 
ing  his  lordship  however  for  throwing  his  shield 
over  lengthy,  in  regard  to  which  I  joined  him  in 
opinion. 

Mr.  Vansittart  had  been  reading  some  of  the 
official  documents  of  our  government.  He  said 
that  our  appropriations  for  the  military  service  for 
the  year,  exceeded  those  of  Great  Britain,  in  pro 
portion  to  the  size  of  the  two  armies  ;  remarking 
that  the  British  army  was  the  most  expensive  in 
Europe.  The  Dutch  was  next,  he  said ;  the 


]  818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  295 

Russian  cheapest.  The  last  cost  but  a  seventh 
part  as  much,  man  for  man,  as  the  British.  I  said 
that  the  expense  of  an  army  in  the  United  States, 
arose  from  the  ease  with  which  subsistence  was 
otherwise  obtainable ;  moreover,  that  the  service 
was  not  popular  in  peace.  He  assigned  a  further 
reason — our  large  proportion  of  artillery ;  we  had 
three  thousand,  to  an  army  of  ten  thousand; 
whilst  the  British  artillery,  to  an  army  of  a  hun 
dred  thousand,  amounted  to  not  more  than  seven 
thousand.  This  I  explained  by  saying,  that  one 
of  the  chief  uses  of  a  small  standing  army  in  the 
United  States,  was  to  keep  fortifications  in  order ; 
adding  that  we  also  made  large  expenditures  upon 
them,  under  our  military  appropriations. 

I  owe  warm  acknowledgments  to  Mr.  Vansittart 
for  hospitalities  and  other  acts  of  kindness,  during 
the  whole  of  my  mission ;  appreciated  the  more  in 
my  public  and  personal  feelings,  from  his  high  sta 
tion  in  the  cabinet,  in  conjunction  with  his  indi 
vidual  distinction  and  various  worth. 

In  a  renewed  conversation  I  asked  him  what 
work  was  regarded  as  containing  the  best  account 
of  the  British  finances.  He  said  it  was  difficult 
to  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  them  from  any  single 
work ;  but,  on  the  whole,  he  considered  Sir  John 


295  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Sinclair's,  for  the  periods  it  embraced,  as  most 
satisfactory. 

July  15.  Went  with  Mrs.  Rush  to  an  enter 
tainment  at  Carlton  House,  given  by  the  Prince 
Regent  in  honour  of  the  marriages  of  the  Duke  of 
Clarence  and  Duke  of  Kent ;  where  was  witnessed 
the  splendour  to  have  been  expected  at  such  a 
scene.  We  had  introductions,  in  common  with 
the  rest  of  the  foreign  ministers,  to  the  royal 
brides.  These  marriages,  with  those  of  the  Prin 
cess  Elizabeth,  and  Duke  of  Cambridge,  all  within 
a  few  months,  have  led  to  a  succession  of  enter 
tainments  in  which  the  diplomatic  corps  have  all 
participated. 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  297 


CHAPTER  XVIT. 


Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — General  negotiation  propos 
ed — Commercial  convention  of  1815 — European  mediation 
between  Spain  and  her  colonies.  Dinner  at  Mr.  Villiers's. 
The  Quarterly  Review.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh 
— Proposal  for  a  general  negotiation  accepted — Mr.  Gallatin 
to  take  part  in  it — Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  Goulburn,  the 
British  negotiators.  Commercial  convention  of  1815.  Din 
ner  at  Sir  John  Sinclair's — at  Mr.  Bentham's — at  the  French 
ambassador's.  Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — course 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  towards  Spain  and 
her  colonies.  Affair  of  Pennsacola. 

July  16.  LORD  Castlereagh  returned  from  Ire 
land  on  the  fourteenth.  To-day  I  had  an  inter 
view  with  him. 

I  entered  at  once  upon  the  subject  of  the  com 
mercial  relations  between  the  two  countries.  I 
remarked,  that  it  was  with  reluctance  the  Presi 
dent  had  given  his  consent  to  the  act  of  Congress 
to  exclude  from  ports  of  the  United  States,  British 

vessels  coming  from  the  West   Indies  or  other 

38 


298  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

British  colonies,  from  whose  ports  vessels  of  the 
United  States  were  excluded.  The  act  indeed  was 
founded  on  equal  justice  and  could  lay  no  ground 
of  complaint,  as  had  often  been  agreed  by  Great 
Britain.  Still,  the  President  could  not  but  know, 
that  its  practical  operation  might  be  irritating  to 
individual  interests  which  it  would  affect  in  both 
countries,  and  his  desire  was,  to  give  efficacy  to 
measures  mutually  more  beneficial  and  concilia 
tory.  It  was  therefore  that  I  was  once  more 
instructed  to  propose  to  his  majesty's  government 
the  negotiation  of  a  general  treaty  of  commerce. 
The  President  desired  also,  that  the  negotiation 
should  include  other  matters ;  and  I  recapitulated 
the  four  following.  1.  The  question  respecting 
slaves  carried  off  from  the  United  States,  in  con 
travention,  as  we  alleged,  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent. 
2.  The  question  of  title  to  Columbia  river.  3. 
That  of  the  north-western  boundary  line,  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods.  4.  The  question,  (one  of 
immediate  and  pressing  importance,)  relating  to 
the  fisheries.  Upon  all  these,  the  President  pre 
ferred  negotiating  directly,  rather  than  resorting 
to  commissioners,  as  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
in  the  hope  that  it  might  prove  the  means  of  the 
two  governments  coming  more  speedily  to  an 
understanding.  If  his  majesty's  government  was 


1818  1          COURT  OF  LONDON.  299 

prepared  to  go  into  them  all,  in  addition  to  the 
question  of  a  general  treaty  of  commerce,  as  the 
whole  would  take  a  wide  range,  the  United  States 
would  name  another  plenipotentiary  to  meet,  in 
association  with  me,  any  two  designated  by  Great 
Britain. 

His  lordship  asked,  what  was  to  be  understood 
by  a  general  treaty  of  commerce.  I  replied,  a 
treaty  that  would  open,  not  a  temporary  or  pre 
carious,  but  permanent  intercourse  with  the  Bri 
tish  West  Indies,  and  their  colonies  in  North 
America,  to  the  shipping  of  the  United  States ;  a 
subject  which,  I  admitted,  it  might  seem  unneces 
sary  to  bring  forward  after  the  recently  expressed 
opinions  of  his  majesty's  government  not  to  treat 
of  it,  were  it  not  that  others  of  interest  to  both 
nations  were  now  coupled  with  it  in  a  way  to  give 
the  proposition  in  some  measure  a  new  character. 

He  said  that  the  British  government  would  be 
willing  to  enter  upon  a  negotiation  on  the  commer 
cial  relations  of  the  two  countries ;  but  he  had  no 
authority  to  say  that  the  colonial  system  would  be 
essentially  altered.  Broken  down,  it  could  not 
be.  I  said,  that  if  it  were  not  to  be  departed  from 
at  all,  or  in  no  greater  degree  than  as  provided 
by  the  four  articles  spoken  of  in  our  conference  of 
the  third  of  January,  as  those  articles  had  not 


300  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

proved  acceptable  to  my  government,  it  did  not 
appear  to  me  that  any  advantage  would  be  likely 
to  arise  from  going  into  the  negotiation.  He  re 
plied,  that  he  was  not  prepared  to  answer  defini 
tively  upon  any  of  the  subjects,  but  would  lay  them 
before  the  cabinet.  He  professed  it  to  be  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  British  government,  to  see 
the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  coun 
tries  placed  upon  the  best  footing  at  all  points  ; 
the  stake  to  each  being  alike  important. 

In  the  event  of  a  negotiation  not  being  opened 
on  the  broad  grounds  I  had  stated,  his  lordship 
asked  if  it  were  yet  in  my  power  to  inform  him  of 
the  intentions  of  my  government  as  to  the  existing 
convention  of  July  1815,  now  so  soon  to  expire. 

I  gave  him  to  understand  that  the  President  was 
willing  to  renew  it ;  thus  keeping  it  distinct  from 
all  other  questions.  It  was  an  instrument  satis 
factory  to  the  United  States,  because,  as  far  as  it 
went,  it  placed  the  tonnage  of  the  two  countries 
in  each  other's  ports,  on  a  footing  of  equality. 
His  lordship  expressed  the  readiness  of  his  ma 
jesty's  government  to  adopt  that  course. 

I  next  passed  to  South  American  affairs.  I 
said  that  my  government  was  desirous  of  ascer 
taining  the  intentions  of  the  European  Alliance  in 
regard  to  the  contest  in  that  hemisphere,  and 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  3Q1 

especially  of  learning  those  of  Great  Britain,  as 
far  as  she  might  be  disposed  to  communicate 
them.  The  information  was  sought,  not  from  a 
mere  desire  to  draw  aside  the  veil  of  European 
politics,  but  from  the  deep  interest  the  United 
States  took  in  that  contest ;  and  they  asked  noth 
ing  which  they  were  not  prepared  to  reciprocate, 
being  ready  to  disclose  with  candour  their  own 
intentions.  My  government  was  not  uninformed 
of  a  general  purpose  of  mediation  by  the  European 
Alliance ;  but  upon  what  precise  basis,  it  did  not 
know.  This  was  the  point  on  which  it  desired 
light. 

His  lordship  made  the  following  replies.  He 
said,  that  the  British  government  was  not  only 
willing,  but  desired,  to  communicate  to  the  United 
States,  every  thing  in  relation  to  the  proposed 
mediation.  It  acknowledged  our  natural  interest 
in  the  question  ;  but  that,  in  fact,  no  plan  for  the 
mediation  had  been  to  this  hour  matured.  Diffi 
culties  had  arisen  with  Spain,  on  points  the  most 
essential ;  they  were  increased  by  obstacles  to  a 
quick  intercourse  of  counsels  among  parties  so 
remote  from  each  other,  as  London,  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  Vienna,  and  Madrid;  even  the  place  for 
the  mediation  had  not  been  fixed  upon.  The 
allied  sovereigns,  when  assembled  at  Aix  la  Cha- 


302  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

pelle  in  the  autumn,  would  probably  take  up  the 
subject,  although  meeting  primarily  for  the  consi 
deration  of  others ;  and  as  soon  as  a  basis  of 
pacification  had  been  laid  down,  he  would  not  fail 
to  apprize  me  of  it. 

Before  parting,  he  gave  me  the  following  piece 
of  information  :  that  in  consequence  of  the  depre 
dations  committed  upon  the  lawful  commerce  of 
the  world  by  cruisers  ostensibly  sailing  under 
commissions  from  the  Spanish  colonies,  the  British 
government  had  issued  instructions  to  some  of  its 
armed  vessels  to  arrest  and  bring  in,  cruisers  of 
this  description,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  stop 
to  the  vexations  and  losses  they  inflicted  upon 
British  commerce.  He  added,  that  the  orders  did 
not  embrace  cruisers  fitted  out  bona  fide  in  South 
American  ports. 

July  20.  Dined  at  Mr.  Villiers's,  north  Audley 
street ;  to  whom  I  owe  obligation  for  kindnesses 
on  many  occasions,  and  not  less  for  his  invariable 
expressions  of  good  will  towards  my  country. 
Field  marshal  Lord  Beresford,  Lord  Fitzroy 
Somerset  and  Lady  Fitzroy,  the  Dutchess  of 
Wellington,  Mrs.  Pole,  Lord  Maynard,  Mr.  Pon- 
sonby,  Mrs.  Villiers  and  my  wife,  were  the  party. 
Conversation  turned  chiefly  on  France.  It  was  in 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  303 

the  spirit  of  commendation  I   remark   to  be  so 
usual. 

After  dinner,  Lord  Beresford  in  conversation 
with  me,  spoke  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
under  the  impression  that  the  Union  would  not 
last.  Our  government  he  said  had  worked  ex 
tremely  well,  so  far  ;  but  must  give  way,  he  thought, 
when  the  country  grew  to  be  highly  populous  as 
well  as  powerful.  I  inculcated  other  doctrine, 
mentioning,  among  our  safeguards,  the  federa 
tive  and  national  principle  interwoven  in  our  con 
stitution,  and  referring  to  shocks  which  the  Union 
had  already  withstood  in  peace  and  war.  He 
complimented  our  navy ;  it  had  taken  England  by 
surprise,  high  praise,  had  it  earned  no  other,  he 
said ;  but,  from  its  nature,  not  likely  to  happen 
again.  I  expressed  the  hope  that  all  such  occasions 
might  be  far  off;  in  which  he  cordially  joined. 

July  21.  Mr.  **  *  *  called  upon  me.  He  said 
that  there  would  appear  in  the  next  Quarterly 
Review,  an  article  on  the  life  and  character  of 
Franklin.  It  was  to  be  the  medium  of  an  attack 
upon  the  United  States,  would  disparage  the 
people,  and  underrate  the  resources  of  the  nation. 
It  would  particularly  examine  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  as  a  naval  power,  and  strip  them  of 


304  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

importance.  It  would  state  their  tonnage  at  less 
than  nine  hundred  thousand,  and  as  decreasing ; 
endeavouring  to  show  from  this  and  other  things, 
that  their  maritime  resources  were  not  only  incon 
siderable  at  present,  but  not  formidable  in  pros 
pect.  The  object  of  the  publication,  was  to  lower 
the  reputation  of  the  United  States  in  Europe. 
To  this  end,  it  would  be  translated  into  French, 
republished  in  Paris  and  thence  widely  circulated. 
Finally,  that  the  article  was  already  known  to 
persons  who  stood  high  in  England,  and  counte 
nanced  by  them. 

The  last  part  of  what  my  informant  communi 
cated,  may,  or  may  riot,  be  true.  The  whole,  is 
of  small  concern.  Cromwell  said  that  a  govern 
ment  was  weak  that  could  not  stand  paper  shot. 
Who  then  shall  write  down  a  nation  ?  Insignifi 
cant  states  escape  assaults  of  the  pen ;  powerful 
ones  can  bear  them.  If  the  United  States  have 
long  been  exposed  to  these  assaults,  so  has  Eng 
land.  They  come  upon  her  from  abroad,  but  more 
from  at  home.  Any  body  who  will  spend  six 
months  in  London  and  look  at  only  a  portion  of 
the  publications  daily  thrown  from  the  press,  will 
be  surprised  at  the  number  of  denunciations  he 
will  surely  find  of  England.  The  crimes  and 
other  enormities  committed  by  her  people ;  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  3Q5 

profligacy  of  the  lower  orders,  the  vices  of  the 
higher;  the  corruptions  of  the  government,  its 
partiality,  injustice,  tyranny  ;  the  abuses  of  law  ; 
the  abuses  in  the  church ;  the  appalling  debt,  the 
grinding  taxation,  the  starving  poor,  the  pampered 
rich — these  and  like  topics  on  which  are  based 
assertions  of  wide-spread  depravity  and  sufferings 
unparalleled,  are  urged  in  every  form,  and  run  out 
into  all  details.  It  is  not  the  cheap,  unstamped 
press,  which  alone  reiterates  them ;  but  many  of 
the  highest  and  most  powerfully  supported  of  the 
journals.  Sometimes  France  is  attacked,  some 
times  Russia,  sometimes  the  Holy  Alliance,  some 
times  the  United  States;  but  England  always. 
The  battering-ram  against  her,  never  stops. 
What  English  writers  thus  say  of  their  own  coun 
try,  and  the  picture  is  commonly  summed  up  with 
confident  predictions  of  national  ruin,  crosses  the 
channel  next  day,  is  translated  into  French,  and, 
as  foretold  of  the  forthcoming  article  in  the  Quar 
terly  Review,  circulated  over  Europe.  In  a  month 
it  has  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  is  circulating  in 
America.  Millions  read,  millions  believe  it.  In 
the  midst  of  it  all  England  advances,  by  strides,  in 
prosperity  and  power.  Europe  and  the  world  see 
both,  in  proofs  irresistible.  The  enlightened  por 
tion  of  the  world  perceive  also  along  side  of  the 

39 


306  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

picture  of  moral  deformity  drawn  of  her  inhabi 
tants,  no  matter  how  much  may  be  true  or  how 
much  exaggerated,  counteracting  fields  of  excel 
lence,  public  and  private,  that  exalt  the  English 
nation  to  a  high  pitch  of  sober  renown. 

It  is  in  this  manner  I  content  myself  as  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States.  The  last  forty  years  have 
witnessed  their  rapid  advance,  in  prosperity  and 
power.  Europe  arid  the  world  behold  both  in  proofs 
that  are  irresistible.  The  enlightened  portion  of 
the  world  will  also  infer,  that  a  nation  with  a  for 
eign  commerce  over-shadowing  that  of  the  great 
est  nations  of  Europe,  England  excepted ;  whose 
whole  tonnage  instead  of  nine  hundred  thousand, 
already  exceeds  fifteen  hundred  thousand  ;  a  nation 
throughout  whose  borders  the  public  liberty  and 
prosperity  have  long  been  diffusing  the  means  of 
private  comfort  and  the  lights  of  general  education, 
the  enlightened  every  where  will  infer,  that  such  a 
nation  cannot  be  wanting  in  adequate  intellectual 
advancement  or  social  refinements,  any  more  than 
in  political  power.  They  follow,  through  the  in 
dissoluble  connexion  between  causes  and  effects. 
Ingenuity  and  ill-nature  hunting  for  exceptions, 
may  find  them ;  but  the  great  field  of  excellence 
remains.  It  will  continue  to  widen,  until  Britain 
herself,  encompassed  as  she  is  with  glory,  will  in 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  307 

time  count  it  her  chiefest  glory,  to  have  been  the 
original  stock  of  such  a  people.  Of  the  often  de 
nounced  and  little  understood,  frame  of  our 
government,  a  British  statesman  wanting  neither 
in  sagacity  nor  knowledge  of  history — Mr.  Fox — 
remarks,  that  it  was  precisely  that  constitution 
which  the  wisest  men  of  the  world  would  give  to 
the  people  of  the  present  age,  supposing  that  they 
had  to  begin  on  a  clear  foundation,  and  not  to  de 
stroy  any  thing  existing  at  the  cost  of  anarchy  and 
civil  war.  Of  such  a  constitution,  the  citizen  of 
the  United  States  may  justly  boast ;  concluding 
in  the  additional  words  of  Mr.  Fox,  that  it  is  the 
"  British  constitution  with  the  improvements  of 
the  experience  often  centuries." 

July  23.  Received  a  note  from  Lord  Castlereagh 
requesting  I  would  meet  him  at  the  foreign  office  to 
day.  I  found  Mr.  Robinson  with  him.  The  latter 
is  president  of  the  board  of  Trade,  and  has  recently 
been  called  to  a  seat  in  the  cabinet. 

His  lordship  informed  me  that  he  had  made 
known  my  proposals  to  the  cabinet,  and  that  a 
general  negotiation  would  be  agreed  to,  on  all  the 
points  I  had  stated.  With  regard  to  the  commer 
cial  question,  the  British  government  did  not 
pledge  itself  to  a  departure  from  the  colonial  sys- 


308  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tern  in  any  degree  greater  than  hitherto,  but  would 
bring  the  whole  subject  under  review ;  willing  to 
hope,  though  abstaining  from  promises,  that  some 
modification  of  the  system  mutually  beneficial, 
might  be  the  result  of  frank  discussions  renewed  at 
the  present  juncture. 

I  replied,  that  my  government  would  hear  this 
determination  with  great  satisfaction,  and  joined 
in  the  hope  that  the  new  effort  might  be  productive 
of  advantage  to  both  countries. 

I  now  informed  his  lordship  that  Mr.  Gallatin, 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  Paris,  would  take 
part  in  the  negotiation,  and  come  to  London  as 
soon  as  it  might  suit  the  convenience  of  his  ma 
jesty's  government  to  appoint  plenipotentiaries  on 
the  side  of  Great  Britain. 

He  replied,  the  sooner  the  better,  saying,  that 
Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  Goulburn  would  be  appoint 
ed.  He  added,  that  he  himself  would  be  obliged 
to  set  out  for  the  continent,  in  August,  to  attend 
the  Congress  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  and  that  the  ne 
gotiation  would  have  to  proceed  in  his  absence ; 
but  expressed  a  wish  that  it  might  open,  before  he 
left  town.  I  said  that  all  our  instructions  had  not 
got  to  hand,  but  we  expected  them  daily.  He 
asked,  whether,  to  guard  against  delays  incident 
to  a  general  negotiation,  I  was  prepared  to  agree 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  309 

separately  to  a  renewal  of  the  convention  of  1815, 
for  a  term  of  years  to  be  fixed.  I  informed  him 
that  I  was  in  possession  of  a  power  to  that  effect. 
From  the  manner  in  which  his  lordship  mention 
ed  this  subject,  and  it  was  for  the  third  time,  it 
was  evident  that  the  British  government  strongly 
desired  the  renewal  of  the  convention.  The 
United  States  desire  it  not  less.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  present  month,  by  information  transmitted  to 
me,  more  of  our  vessels  were  to  be  seen  in  the  port 
of  Liverpool,  than  those  of  any  foreign  power,  or 
even  English  vessels,  coasters  excepted.  The  lat 
ter  fact  surprised  me.  It  may  be  taken  as  an  in 
dication  that  in  the  trade  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  the  United  States  are  likely  to  have  their 
equal  share  as  carriers,  as  long  as  the  charges 
upon  the  vessels  of  each,  continue  equal.  This  is 
all  that  the  United  States  ask.  It  is  the  offer  they 
make  to  all  nations.  They  hold  it  out  in  a  per 
manent  statute,  as  the  basis  of  their  code  of  navi 
gation. 

July  24.  Dined  yesterday  at  Sir  John  Sinclair's, 
Ormly-lodge,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Richmond. 
He  had  invited  us  to  come  in  the  morning  and  spend 
the  day,  for  the  sake  of  an  excursion  upon  the 
Thames.  Hampton  court,  Pope's  villa  at  Twick- 


310  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818 

enham,  Strawberry -hill,  with  other  places  to  call 
up  historical  or  classic  recollections,  would  have 
been  within  our  range ;  but  we  were,  for  this  oc 
casion,  disappointed.  My  interview  with  Lord 
Castlereagh  had  been  fixed  for  an  hour  that  pre 
vented  our  leaving  town  in  season,  so  that  the 
pleasure  of  dining  and  passing  the  evening  at 
Ormly-lodge,  was  all  we  could  command. 

It  was  the  first  time  I  had  been  so  far  into  the 
country  since  our  arrival.  Gardens,  hedge-rows, 
village  churches,  houses  and  walls  with  ivy  grow 
ing  about  them,  met  the  eye  in  all  directions.  Here, 
were  evergreens,  cut  into  shapes  as  in  Queen 
Anne's  time ;  there,  the  modern  villa,  where  art 
was  exerted  to  avoid  all  appearances  of  it;  so 
that,  even  in  this  short  distance,  the  taste  of  differ 
ent  ages  might  be  seen.  Looking  on  the  whole, 
I  could  not  avoid  the  thought,  that  the  lawns  so 
neat  and  fields  so  fertile,  were  the  same  ground 
that  the  plough  had  gone  through  when  the  Ro 
mans  were  here.  The  more  did  this  thought  come 
over  me,  as  in  the  United  States  we  have  what 
we  call  "  old  fields,"  worn  out  by  too  much  use,  as 
we  say,  and  abandoned  on  that  account.  They 
are  abandoned,  I  must  remark,  for  new  ones,  more 
fertile;  but  when  these  in  turn  become  "  old 
fields"  it  seems  we  need  be  in  no  despair  of  mak- 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  3 1 1 

ing  the  former  "  old  fields"  fertile  again,  any  more 
than  the  latter,  it  being  certain  that  the  older 
fields  of  England  are  still  teeming  with  fertility. 
We  drove  through  Richmond  Park,  which  com 
pleted  the  beauty  of  the  scene. 

Arrived  at  Ormly-lodge,  we  were  courteously 
received  at  the  door,  and  soon  went  to  dinner. 
Sir  John  and  Lady  Sinclair  with  several  members 
of  their  family,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Basil  Cochrane,  of 
Portman  square,  Sir  Benjamin  and  Lady  Hobhouse, 
with  a  few  others,  made  the  party.  Sentiments 
the  most  liberal,  were  expressed  towards  the  United 
States,  both  Sir  John  Sinclair  and  Sir  Benjamin 
Hobhouse  having  an  acquaintance  with  their  con 
cerns  that  belonged  to  enlightened  and  inquiring 
minds.  The  latter  was  president  of  the  Agricul 
tural  Society  at  Bath.  He  spoke  of  the  agricul 
ture  of  the  United  States.  It  had  long  been  his 
desire,  he  said,  that  the  agriculturists  of  the  two 
countries  should  correspond,  exchanging  observa 
tions,  and  the  results  of  their  experiments.  I  said 
that  those  of  my  country  could  scarcely  object, 
seeing  how  much  they  would  be  likely  to  gain. 
He  replied,  that  agriculturists  in  England  would 
gain  too,  and  spoke  of  the  advantage  he  had  him 
self  derived  from  a  correspondence  with  Mr.  Pe 
ters,  of  Belmont,  president  of  the  Agricultural 


312  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Society  at  Philadelphia ;  to  whose  knowledge  he 
bore  testimony,  and  his  happy  manner  of  impart 
ing  it.  He  spoke  of  Mr.  Coke's  farm  at  Holkham, 
in  Norfolk ;  it  was  in  the  highest  order  in  which 
it  seemed  possible  for  land  to  be,  to  illustrate  pro 
ductive  and  beautiful  husbandry ;  he  did  not  know 
that  a  weed  could  be  found  upon  it.  He  called  it 
horticulture,  upon  a  great  scale.  This  celebrated 
farm  consists  of  several  thousand  acres ;  the  en 
closure  round  his  park  was  stated  to  be  ten  miles 
in  extent ;  his  whole  estate  in  that  county,  to  con 
tain  about  forty  thousand  acres.  Having  had  the 
gratification,  at  a  subsequent  day,  of  visiting  Mr. 
Coke  at  his  Holkham  estate,  I  am  here  reminded 
of  what  he  told  me  was  jocosely  said  when  he  first 
took  possession  of  it ;  viz.  that  there  was  but  one 
blade  of  grass  on  the  Avhole,  for  which  two  rab 
bits  were  fighting  !  All  accounts  agree,  that  it  was 
sterile.  Skilful  farming,  aided  by  capital,  had 
brought  it,  in  the  course  of  a  single  life,  into  the 
state  Sir  Benjamin  Hobhouse  described,  and  repaid, 
as  was  added,  the  large  expenditures  upon  it.  The 
remark  from  Brougham's  Colonial  Policy  about 
Holland,  wras  quoted  :  viz.  that  that  country  owed 
its  rich  agriculture  to  a  combination  of  defects 
in  both  soil  and  climate,  which  put  man  more 
upon  his  own  efforts.  What  a  lesson  to  nations, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  313 

as  to  individuals !  The  principle  of  the  remark, 
may  be  applied  to  England  also ;  who,  with  her 
superabundant  riches  and  strength,  is  greatly 
stinted  in  natural  advantages  bestowed  with  a 
profuse  hand  upon  many  other  nations. 

Sir  John  Sinclair's  conversation  was  instructive 
and  entertaining.  He  had  the  double  fund  of  a 
large  mixture  with  the  world  and  books,  to  draw 
from.  Early  rising  was  a  topic ;  he  thought  it 
less  conducive  to  health  than  was  generally  sup 
posed,  owing  to  the  morning  exhalations ;  we  heard 
of  the  robustness  of  the  old  Saxons,  but  he  doubted 
if  they  were  as  powerful  a  race,  physically,  as  the 
English  of  the  present  day ;  and  as  to  their  going 
to  bed  at  dark,  and  getting  up  with  the  dawn,  that, 
he  pleasantly  said,  was  natural  among  a  people 
ignorant  of  the  art  of  making  candles !  In  the 
evening,  further  company  arrived  from  neighbour 
ing  country  seats ;  of  the  number,  were  the  Miss 
Penns,  descendants  of  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania. 
Pastimes  followed,  promoted  and  shared  by  Sir 
John,  whose  qualities  in  private  life,  do  not  fall 
behind  those  that  have  made  him  known  to  his 
country  as  a  public  man  and  author.  I  mentioned 
on  a  former  page  the  Chancellor  of  the  exchequer's 
opinion  of  his  work  on  the  British  finances  ;  I  add, 

that  on  asking  Mr.  Coke  what  work  might  be  con- 

40 


314  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

suited  with  most  advantage  on  the  agriculture  of 
England,  he  replied,  that  he  knew  of  none,  by  a 
private  hand,  better  than  Sir  John  Sinclair's: — 
high  testimonials. 

July  27.  Dined  at  Mr.  Jeremy  Bentham's.  If 
Mr.  Bentham's  character  be  peculiar,  so  is  his 
place  of  residence. 

From  my  house  north  of  Portman  square,  I  was 
driven  nearly  three  miles  through  streets  for  the 
most  part  long  and  wide,  until  I  passed  Westmin 
ster  Abbey.  Thereabouts,  things  changed;  the 
streets  grew  narrow,  and  all  the  houses  seemed 
falling  down  with  age.  Crowds  were  as  thick, 
but  not  as  good  looking,  as  about  Cornhill  and  the 
Poultry.  In  a  little  while  I  reached  the  purlieus 
of  Queen-square-place.  The  farther  I  advanced, 
the  more  confined  was  the  space.  At  length, 
turning  through  a  gate-way,  the  passage  was  so 
narrow,  that  I  thought  the  wheels  of  my  carriage 
would  have  grazed.  It  was  a  kind  of  blind-alley, 
the  end  of  which  widened  into  a  small,  neat,  court 
yard.  There,  by  itself,  stood  Mr.  Bentham's 
house.  Shrubbery  graced  its  area,  and  flowers 
its  window-sills.  It  was  like  an  oasis  in  the  de 
sert  ;  its  name  is  the  Hermitage. 

Entering,  he  received  me  with  the  simplicity  of 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  315 

a  philosopher.  I  should  have  taken  him  for  se 
venty  or  upwards.  Every  thing  inside  of  the 
house  was  orderly.  The  furniture  seemed  to  have 
been  unmoved  since  the  days  of  his  fathers  ;  for  I 
learned  that  it  was  a  patrimony.  A  parlour,  li 
brary,  and  dining  room,  made  up  the  suite  of 
apartments.  In  each,  was  a  piano,  the  eccentric 
master  of  the  whole  being  fond  of  music,  as  the 
recreation  of  his  literary  hours.  It  was  a  unique, 
romantic  little  homestead.  Walking  with  him  into 
his  garden,  I  found  it  dark  with  the  shade  of 
ancient  trees ;  which  formed  a  barrier  against  all 
intrusion.  In  one  part,  was  a  high  dead  wall,  the 
back  of  a  neighbour's  house,  mouldering  under  the 
hand  of  time.  In  that  house,  he  informed  me, 
Milton  had  lived.  Perceiving  that  I  took  an  inter 
est  in  this  fact,  he  soon  afterwards  obtained  a  relic 
from  the  house  and  sent  it  to  me.  It  was  an  old 
carved  baluster,  from  the  staircase,  which  there 
was  reason  to  think  the  hand  of  the  great  bard 
had  often  grasped — so  said  the  note  that  accom 
panied  the  relic. 

The  company  was  small,  but  choice.  Mr. 
Brougham,  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  Mr.  Mill,  author 
of  the  well  known  work  on  India,  M.  Dumont,  the 
learned  Genevan,  once  the  associate  of  Mirabeau, 
were  all  who  sat  down  to  table.  Mr.  Bentham 


316  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

did  not  talk  much.  He  had  a  benevolence  of  man 
ner,  suited  to  the  philanthropy  of  his  mind.  He 
seemed  to  be  thinking  only  of  the  convenience 
and  pleasure  of  his  guests ;  not  as  a  rule  of  artifi 
cial  breeding,  as  from  Chesterfield  or  Madame 
Genlis,  but  from  innate  feeling.  Bold  as  are  his 
opinions  in  his  works,  here  he  was  wholly  unobtru 
sive  of  theories  that  might  not  have  commanded 
the  assent  of  all  present.  Something  else  was  re 
markable.  When  he  did  converse,  it  was  in  sim 
ple  language,  a  contrast  to  his  later  writings,  where 
an  involved  style,  and  the  use  of  new  or  unusual 
words,  are  drawbacks  upon  the  speculations  of  a 
genius  original  and  profound,  but  with  the  faults 
of  solitude.  Yet  some  of  his  earlier  productions, 
are  distinguished  by  classical  brevity  and  per 
spicuity. 

Mr.  Brougham  talked  with  rapidity  and  energy. 
There  was  a  quickness  in  his  bodily  movements 
indicative  of  the  quickness  of  his  thoughts.  He 
showed  in  conversation  the  universality  and  disci 
pline  that  he  exhibits  in  parliament  and  the  courts 
of  law.  The  affairs  of  South  America,  English 
authors,  Johnson — Pope — Swift — Milton — Dryden 
— Addison  (the  criticisms  of  the  last  on  Paradise 
Lost  he  thought  poor  things ;)  anecdotes  of  the 
living  judges  of  England ;  of  lord  chancellors, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  317 

living  and  dead ;  the  errors  in  Burrow's  Reports, 
not  always  those  of  the  reporter,  he  said ;  the  uni 
versities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge ;  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States — these  were  topics  that 
he  touched  with  the  promptitude  and  power  of  a 
master.  He  quoted  from  the  ancient  classics,  and 
poets  of  modern  Italy,  (the  latter  in  the  original 
also)  not  with  the  ostentation  of  scholarship,  which 
he  is  above,  but  as  if  they  came  out  whether  he 
would  or  no,  amidst  the  multitude  of  his  irrepressi 
ble  ideas  and  illustrations.  He  handled  nothing 
at  length,  but  with  a  happy  brevity ;  the  rarest  art 
in  conversation,  when  loaded  with  matter  like  his. 
Sometimes  he  despatched  a  subject  in  a  paren 
thesis  ;  sometimes  by  a  word,  that  told  like  a 
blow.  Not  long  after  this  my  first  meeting  with 
him,  one  of  his  friends  informed  me  that  a  gentle 
man  whose  son  was  about  to  study  law,  asked  him 
what  books  he  ought  to  read.  "  Tell  him  to  begin 
with  Demosthenes  and  Dante."  What,  to  make  a 
lawyer,  said  the  father  ?  "  Fes,"  he  replied,  "and  if 
you  don't  take,  we  won't  argue  about  it"  Mr.  Mill, 
M.  Dumont,  and  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  did  their 
parts  towards  keeping  up  the  ball  of  conversation, 
which  however  was  hit  oftenest  and  hardest  by 
Mr.  Brougham,  though  he  did  not  monopolize,  any 
more  than  argue.  Sheridan  being  spoken  of,  Sir 


318  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Samuel  Romilly,  who  had  frequently  heard  him  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  said,  that  nothing  could 
be  more  marked  than  the  difference  between  the 
parts  of  his  speeches  previously  written  out,  and 
the  extemporaneous  parts.  The  audience  could 
discover  in  a  moment  when  he  fell  into  the  latter. 
It  was  well  known,  he  added,  that  all  the  highly 
wrought  passages  in  his  speeches  on  Hastings's 
impeachment,  were  prepared  before  hand  and 
committed  to  memory. 

After  we  rose  from  table,  Mr.  Bentham  sought 
conversation  with  me  about  the  United  States. 
"  Keep  your  salaries  low,"  said  he ;  "  it  is  one  of 
the  secrets  of  the  success  of  your  government." 
"  But  what  is  this,"  he  inquired,  "  called  a  board 
of  navy  commissioners  that  you  have  lately  set 
up  ;  I  don't  understand  it  ?"  I  explained  it  to  him. 
"  I  can't  say  that  I  like  it,"  he  replied ;  "  the  sim 
plicity  of  your  public  departments  has  heretofore 
been  one  of  their  recommendations,  but  boards 
make  screens ;  if  any  thing  goes  wrong,  you  don't 
know  where  to  find  the  offender ;  it  was  the  board 
that  did  it,  not  one  of  the  members :  always  the 
board,  the  board!"  I  got  home  at  a  late  hour, 
having  witnessed  a  degree  of  intellectual  point  and 
strength  throughout  the  whole  evening,  not  easily 
to  have  been  exceeded. 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  319 

July  30.  The  French  ambassador  gave  an 
entertainment  to  the  Prince  Regent.  There  were 
present  all  the  foreign  ambassadors  and  ministers, 
Lord  Castlereagh,  Lord  Melville,  Lord  Stewart, 
Lord  Binning,  the  vice  chancellor,  and  other  offi 
cial  characters,  the  company  being  large.  The 
dinner  arrangements  were  in  part  on  the  models 
of  France ;  the  wines,  were  Burgundy,  Tokay, 
St.  Julien,  sillery  champagne  non  rnousseux,  and 
others  in  esteem  at  such  tables;  all,  as  is  the 
custom  in  England,  on  the  table  at  the  same  time, 
to  be  used  as  preferred.  In  the  fruit  course,  were 
displayed  the  mingled  fruits  of  France  and  Eng 
land  ;  from  the  gardens  of  the  former,  and  hot 
houses  of  the  latter.  In  England  it  is  only  by 
heat  so  obtained,  that  fruit  can  have  its  full  flavour; 
yet  so  numerous  all  over  the  island  are  these  re 
ceptacles  of  artificial  heat,  that  they  become  as 
another  sun  to  the  English  climate. 

Beautiful  as  was  the  appearance  of  every  thing, 
the  chief  attraction  did  not  lie  there ;  but  in  the 
distinguished  entertainers,  the  Marquis  and 
Marchioness  D'Osmond.  French  society  has 
always  been  celebrated ;  the  Sevignes,  the  du 
Deffands,  the  de  Levises,  and  a  thousand  others 
have  told  us  of  it.  The  manners  of  the  French 
of  those  days,  in  spite  of  the  alloy  mixed  with 


320  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

them,  command  admiration,  and  are  embalmed  in 
the  literature  of  the  nation ;  it  may  be  added,  of 
Europe.  Their  influence  survives  in  France ;  for 
even  those  who  discard  totally  French  politics  of 
the  same  ages,  cherish  the  example  of  personal 
accomplishments  that  gave  grace  and  ornament  to 
social  life.  The  memory  of  them  was  recalled  on 
the  occasion  of  this  entertainment. 

But  among  personages  of  the  class  assembled, 
exterior  attractions  are  not  all  that  engage  the 
thoughts.  In  the  drawing  rooms  of  London  as 
the  saloons  of  Paris,  intervals  are  found  for  other 
topics.  "  What  is  it"  whispered  to  me  in  the 
course  of  the  evening  an  ambassador  from  one  of 
the  great  powers,  "  what  is  it  we  hear  about  Pensa- 
cola  ?  are  you  going  to  have  difficulty  with  Spain  ?" 
I  replied  that  I  hoped  not.  "  May  1  hear  from  you 
the  circumstances — /  should  be  glad  to  inform  my 
court  what  they  are."  I  said  they  were  simply 
these :  The  United  States  were  at  war  with  the 
Seminole  Indians,  a  tribe  dwelling  partly  in 
Florida ;  Spain  was  bound  by  treaty  to  restrain 
their  hostilities  from  within  her  own  line  ;  never 
theless,  they  crossed  the  line,  attacked  our  people, 
and  fell  back  into  Florida  ;  there,  they  recruited 
for  new  attacks,  and  when  pursued,  found  shelter, 
it  was  hoped  without  the  knowledge  of  Spain,  in 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  321 

the  Spanish  posts  of  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola. 
Such  in  a  word  were  the  facts  on  which  General 
Jackson,  commander  of  the  United  States  troops, 
had  acted.  He  had  accordingly  taken  possession 
of  those  fortresses;  not  as  an  act  of  hostility  to 
Spain,  but  in  necessary  prosecution  of  the  war 
against  the  Indians,  and  defence  of  our  own  fron 
tier.  The  ambassador  said,  that  Europe  would 
look  with  interest  upon  the  progress  of  the  affair. 
I  gave  the  same  information  to  one  of  the  minis 
ters  plenipotentiary.  The  latter  remarked,  that 
the  diplomatic  corps  were  full  of  the  news ;  for 
said  he,  "  we  have  had  nothing  of  late  so  exciting  ;  it 
smacks  of  war"  I  said,  that  I  had  no  belief  that  the 
United  States  would  detain  the  posts  an  hour  after 
the  necessity  that  led  to  their  being  taken,  ceased. 
Mr.  Poleticca,  appointed  minister  from  Russia 
to  the  United  States,  was  of  the  company.  He 
spoke  of  the  friendly  dispositions  he  should  carry 
with  him  to  my  country,  by  command  of  his  sove 
reign.  So  strongly,  he  said,  were  his  instructions 
imbued  with  this  spirit,  that  he  would  not  scruple 
to  read  them  to  Mr.  Adams,  when  he  got  to 
Washington.  I  learned,  not  from  Mr.  Poleticca 
but  otherwise,  that  they  related  in  part  to  the 
United  States  joining  the  Holy  Alliance.  This 

may  seem  strange.     It  may  be  explained  by  the 

41 


322  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

remark,  that  there  was  nothing  objectionable  in" 
the  ends  proposed  on  the  face  of  this  alliance ;  re 
ligion,  peace,  and  justice  among  nations,  being  its 
professed  objects.  It  was,  however,  a  sufficient 
objection  to  any  free  government  becoming  party 
to  it,  that  it  sprung  from  the  wills  of  irresponsible 
sovereigns,  was  perfected  by  their  autograph  sig 
natures,  and  susceptible,  from  its  very  nature,  of 
being  interpreted  and  enforced  to  their  own  ends. 
The  emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria,  and  the  king 
of  Prussia,  first  signed  it.  England  declined  ;  on 
the  ground  that  by  the  forms  of  her  constitution, 
no  treaty  or  league  of  any  kind  was  ever  signed 
by  the  monarch  in  person,  but  by  ministers  respon 
sible  to  the  nation.  A  representative  of  one  of  the 
second  rate  powers  of  Europe  remarked  to  me  at 
this  dinner,  on  the  mortification  which  such  powers 
felt  at  having  all  their  movements  brought  under 
the  inspection  and  controul  of  this  alliance.  He 
told,  very  happily  I  thought  in  this  connexion,  the 
anecdote  of  the  Dutch  ambassador  who  was  sent 
to  make  peace  with  Louis  XIV,  after  his  first  suc 
cesses  against  Holland  ;  but  who,  on  hearing  the 
extravagant  terms  demanded  by  Louis,  swooned 
away,  as  being  of  a  nature  never  to  be  yielded, 
and  which  he  knew  not  how  to  resist. 

The  Prince    Regent  sat   on  the  right  of  the 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  323 

French  ambassador,  and  the  whole  entertainment 
was  sumptuous.  The  company  remained  until  a 
late  hour  in  the  drawing  rooms,  under  the  spell 
of  French  affability  and  taste. 

July  31.  Had  an  interview  with  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  by  appointment,  at  the  French  ambassador's, 
yesterday.  He  informed  me  that  the  court  of 
Madrid  had  made  propositions  to  Great  Britain  to 
mediate  between  Spain  and  her  colonies,  and 
invited  the  European  Alliance  to  join.  The  invi 
tation  was  given  in  a  note  from  the  Spanish  am 
bassador  in  London,  written  early  this  month.  He 
had  not  known  of  it  at  the  time  of  our  interview 
on  the  sixteenth,  having  then  just  got  back  from 
Ireland,  and  a  convenient  opportunity  of  noticing 
it  had  not  offered  when  we  were  together  after 
wards.  He  had  therefore  sought  this  interview. 
He  could  not  better  unfold  the  subject  than  by  put 
ting  into  my  hands  the  notes  that  had  passed ; 
first,  the  one  from  the  Spanish  ambassador ;  next, 
the  answer  of  the  British  government,  drawn  up 
a  few  days  ago ;  thirdly,  as  coupling  itself  with 
the  subject,  a  note  of  the  British  government  of 
the  twenty  eighth  of  August  1817,  addressed  to 
the  allied  powers  and  made  known  to  Spain,  con- 


324  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

taining  the  sentiments  of  Great  Britain  as  to  a 
mediation  at  that  time. 

I  read  each  note.  The  introductory  matter  of 
the  Spanish  ambassador's,  spoke  of  the  rebellious 
nature  of  the  war  in  the  colonies,  of  the  past 
clemency  of  Spain,  and  her  continued  willingness 
to  terminate  the  quarrel.  It  then  laid  down  the 
following  as  the  basis  on  which  a  mediation  was 
asked.  1.  An  amnesty  to  the  colonies  on  their 
being  reduced.  Lord  Castlereagh  explained  this 
word,  which  was  a  translation  from  the  Spanish, 
by  saying  that  Spain  did  not  mean  conquered,  but 
only  that  the  colonies  must  desist  from  hostility. 
2.  The  king  of  Spain  to  employ  in  his  public  ser 
vice  in  America,  qualified  Americans  as  well  as 
European  Spaniards.  3.  The  king  to  grant  the 
colonies  privileges  of  trade  adapted  to  the  existing 
posture  of  things.  4.  The  king  to  acquiesce  in  all 
measures  the  mediating  powers  might  suggest  to 
effect  the  above  objects. 

The  British  answer  approved  the  propositions, 
as  general  ones,  but  called  for  explanations  by 
which  the  meaning  of  some  of  them  might  be 
rendered  more  definite.  It  expressed  an  opinion 
that  the  dispute  ought  to  be  healed  without  taking 
away  the  political  supremacy  of  the  parent  state. 
It  declared  that  the  trade  of  the  colonies  ought  to 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  325 

be  free  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  the  mother  country 
being  placed  upon  a  footing  of  reasonable  prefer 
ence.  Lastly  it  made  known,  that  Great  Britain 
would  do  no  more  than  interpose  friendly  offices, 
using  no  compulsion  should  they  fail. 

The  British  note  of  August  1817,  related  chiefly 
to  the  commercial  freedom  of  the  colonies  and  the 
non-employment  of  force.  It  was  very  explicit 
on  the  first  point,  going  the  length  the  United 
States  had  done,  of  saying  that  Great  Britain 
would  accept  no  privileges  of  trade  at  the  hands  of 
the  colonies  not  open  to  other  nations ;  and  on  the 
second  point,  unequivocally  disavowing  all  inten 
tion  of  forcing  the  colonies  by  arms,  into  any 
measures  whatever.  The  proffered  mediation  at 
this  period,  went  off  on  the  question  of  the  slave 
trade,  Britain  insisting  on  its  abolition  by  Spain 
on  terms  to  which  the  latter  would  not  then  assent. 

These  state  papers,  the  purport  of  which  I  give 
succinctly,  without  following  the  precise  words, 
record  the  opinions  of  Great  Britain  on  the  settle 
ment  of  this  contest  at  the  epochs  indicated. 

When  I  had  finished  reading  them,  his  lordship 
asked  if  I  was  in  possession  of  the  views  of  my 
own  government  as  to  a  basis  of  settlement. 

I  replied  in  the  affirmative ;  informing  him  that 
the  desire  of  my  government  was,  that  the  colonies 


326  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818. 

should  be  completely  emancipated  from  the  parent 
state.  It  was  also  of  opinion,  that  the  contest 
never  would,  or  could,  be  settled  otherwise. 

I  added,  that  the  United  States  would  decline 
taking  part,  if  they  took  part  at  all,  in  any  plan  of 
pacification,  except  on  the  basis  of  the  independence 
of  the  colonies. 

This  was  the  determination  to  which  my  govern 
ment  had  come,  on  much  deliberation,  and  I  was 
bound  to  communicate  it  in  full  candour.  It  had 
hoped  that  the  views  of  Great  Britain  would  have 
been  the  same. 

His  lordship  appeared  to  receive  the  communi 
cation  with  regret.  He  admitted  that  the  United 
States  stood  in  different  relations  to  the  contest, 
from  those  which  Great  Britain  held ;  as  well  by 
reason  of  the  European  engagements  of  the  latter, 
as  other  causes.  Still,  he  sincerely  desired  that 
our  two  governments  should  have  acted  in  full 
harmony  of  opinion.  He  perceived  the  deep  in* 
terest  which  the  United  States  had  in  the  whole 
question ;  on  which  account  their  concurrence 
with  Europe  on  all  the  grounds  of  mediation,  al 
though  they  took  no  part  in  it,  would  not  have 
been  without  an  influence  in  rendering  it  effectual. 
The  fundamental  point  of  difference  was  further 
discussed  between  us ;  but  I  gave  his  lordship  no 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  397 

reason  to  suppose  that  the  determination  of  the 
United  States  would  undergo  a  change.  The  con 
versation  was  conducted  and  terminated  in  a  spirit 
altogether  conciliatory. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  on  the  great 
question  of  Spanish  American  Independence,  could 
not  have  been  different.  They  owed  it  to  the 
actual  position  of  the  colonies;  to  their  future 
destinies ;  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty  in  the 
new  hemisphere.  Their  determination  to  act  upon 
this  policy,  was  accelerated  by  the  exertions  of  a 
distinguished  patriot  and  statesman  of  the  republic, 
Mr.  Clay ;  whose  comprehensive  forecast  outran 
the  doubts  of  others,  and  whose  commanding  elo 
quence,  never  tiring  in  this  cause,  made  its  im 
pression  on  the  legislative  counsels  and  public 
opinion  of  the  nation.  It  was  a  noble  spectacle 
to  see  the  United  States  stretch  out  their  power 
ful  hand  to  these  infant  communities,  anticipating 
the  freest  government  of  Europe  in  announcing 
the  decree  of  their  independence ;  a  branch  of 
European  and  American  affairs  on  which  I  may 
have  more  to  say,  if  this  work  be  continued.  Mr. 
Canning  at  a  subsequent  day,  earned  a  just  and 
brilliant  portion  of  his  fame,  by  throwing  the 
mighty  JEgis  of  Britain  over  their  freedom  ;  which 


328  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

but  enhances  the  fame  of  their  American  champion, 
who  was  foremost  in  the  competition. 

When  we  had  done  with  this  subject,  his  lord 
ship  asked  if  I  had  any  accounts  from  my  govern 
ment  of  the  capture  of  Pensacola.  I  said,  none  that 
were  official.  I  improved  the  opportunity,  as  in 
other  instances,  at  the  French  ambassador's,  of  giv 
ing  him  an  outline  of  the  transaction.  He  express 
ed  a  hope  that  it  would  not  lead  to  a  breach  of 
our  peaceful  relations  with  Spain,  adding,  that 
nothing  had  yet  been  received  on  the  subject  from 
the  British  minister  at  Washington. 

August  12.  Called  at  the  foreign  office,  to  in 
form  Mr.  Planta,  that  Mr.  Gallatin  would  probably 
arrive  in  England  in  a  few  days,  by  way  of  Dover, 
on  the  business  of  the  negotiation.  I  requested 
that  the  necessary  passports  might  be  forwarded 
for  according  to  him  every  facility  in  landing  and 
coming  to  London. 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  329 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh — Impressment — Cases  of 
Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  Mr.  Gallatin  arrives  in  London. 
Preparatory  conference  at  North  Cray,  the  seat  of  Lord 
Castlereagh,  in  Kent,  where  the  negotiators  dine  and  pass 
the  night.  Appearances  of  the  country.  Opening  of  the 
negotiation — the  points  recapitulated.  Last  interview  with 
Lord  Castlereagh  on  Impressment,  prior  to  his  departure  for 
Aix  la  Chapelle. 


August  14.  Called  on  Lord  Castlereagh  by 
his  invitation. 

He  informed  me  that  causes  had  occurred  to 
prevent  the  congress  of  sovereigns  assembling  at 
Aix  la  Chapelle  as  soon  as  had  been  expected. 
The  time  was  now  fixed  for  the  twentieth  of  Sep 
tember  ;  he  was  the  better  pleased  at  this  delay, 
as  it  ensured  him  the  opportunity  of  being  pre 
sent  at  the  commencement  of  our  negotiation.  I 
expressed  my  satisfaction  at  the  information,  and 

in  turn  informed  him,  that  the  full  powers  and  in- 

42 


330  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

structions  to  Mr.  Gallatin  and  myself  had  arrived, 
and  that  I  expected  Mr.  Gallatin  from  Paris  in  a 
day  or  two. 

He  next  surprised  me,  and  agreeably,  by  reviv 
ing  the  subject  of  impressment ;  for  I  feared  that 
it  had  been  entirely  expunged  from  our  confer 
ences.  He  premised,  that  what  he  was  going  to 
say,  was,' for  the  present,  without  the  knowledge 
of  his  colleagues  in  the  administration;  he  had 
reflected  upon  my  late  proposals,  which  had,  it  was 
true,  been  rejected,  as  they  now  stood ;  but  feeling 
the  great  importance  of  this  subject,  and  willing  to 
avoid  if  possible  shutting  it  out  from  the  general 
negotiation,  it  had  occurred  to  him  to  offer  some 
suggestions  to  me  in  relation  to  it.  He  thought 
that  my  proposals  might,  perhaps,  be  rendered 
acceptable  by  souie  modifications  important  to 
Great  Britain,  without  affecting,  as  he  hoped,  the 
primary  object  of  the  United  States.  The  modifi 
cations  were  these. 

1.  That  any  treaty  or  convention  founded  on 
my  proposals,  should  be  limited  to  eight,  ten,  or 
twelve  years,  with  liberty  to  each  party  to  be  ab 
solved  from  its  stipulations  on  a  notice  of  three  or 
six  months ;  as  in  the  existing  arrangement  between 
the  two  countries  for  the  reciprocal  dismantlement 
of  their  flotillas  on  the  lakes. 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  331 

2.  That  the  British  boarding  officer,  entering 
American  ships  at  sea,  for  a  purpose  agreed  by 
both  nations  to  be  justifiable  under  the  laws  of 
nations,  should  be  entitled  to  call  for  a  list  of  the 
crew ;  and  if  he  saw  a  seaman  known  to  him,  or 
on  good  grounds  suspected,  to  be  a  British  sea 
man,  should  have  the  further  privilege  of  making 
a  record,  or  proces  verbal,  of  the  fact,  in  such  man 
ner  as  to  bring  the  case  under  the  notice  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  but  not  to  take 
the  man  out  of  the  ship. 

The  latter  regulation,  his  lordship  observed, 
would  operate  as  a  further  incentive  to  the  faith 
ful  execution  of  our  home  prohibitions  for  exclud 
ing  British  subjects  from  our  vessels  ;  the  former, 
guard  against  any  irrevocable  relinquishment  by 
Great  Britain  of  what  she  believed  to  be  her  right 
of  impressment — a  relinquishment  which  the  feel 
ings  of  the  country  might  not  on  trial  be  found  to 
bear. 

To  the  first  modification  I  saw  no  insurmount 
able  objection.  The  second  I  viewed  very  differ 
ently  ;  but  as,  in  the  progress  of  the  negotiation,  a 
hope  might  reasonably  be  entertained  of  getting 
rid  of  the  second,  if  the  first  were  adopted,  I  said 
to  his  lordship,  that  although  I  would  express  no 
opinion  on  the  proposed  modifications,  apart  from 


332  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

my  colleague,  whose  arrival  was  so  soon  expected, 
I  saw  enough  in  the  suggestion  of  them  to  bring 
the  subject  again  within  the  pale  of  our  discus 
sions. 

His  lordship  passed  to  a  new  subject,  his  man 
ner  showing  the  interest  he  felt  in  it.  It  was  the 
execution,  by  order  of  General  Jackson,  of  two 
British  subjects,  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  This 
transaction  grew  out  of  the  war  against  the  Semi- 
nole  Indians.  Ambrister  was  taken  in  the  field, 
fighting  on  their  side  against  the  forces  of  the 
United  States ;  Arbuthnot  was  made  prisoner  in 
the  Spanish  fort  of  St.  Marks,  and  charged  with 
instigating  the  Indians  to  war  against  our  troops 
and  people.  His  lordship  inquired  if  I  had  any 
intelligence  from  my  government  respecting  these 
executions,  saying  that  his  majesty's  government 
had  none,  as  yet,  from  Mr.  Bagot.  I  replied,  that 
neither  had  I  any  from  my  government.  He  said 
that  he  could  have  no  complaint  to  make  at  pre 
sent,  the  case  not  being  officially  before  the  Bri 
tish  government ;  but  assuming  the  rumours  in  the 
newspapers  to  have  any  foundation,  the  execution 
of  these  men  under  the  mere  authority  of  the  com 
manding  general,  without  any  reference  to  the 
government  of  the  United,  States,  seemed  an  ex 
treme  measure.  He  asked  if  I  could  account  for 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  333 

it.  I  replied,  that  I  could  only  account  for  it  by 
supposing  the  offences  to  have  been  extreme ;  this, 
combined  with  the  distance  of  the  commanding 
general  from  Washington,  had  probably  presented 
the  whole  case  to  his  mind  as  one  to  be  acted  upon 
at  his  own  discretion,  and  under  his  own  responsi 
bility  ;  the  Indians  when  waging  war,  destroyed 
their  prisoners,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex,  which 
necessarily  exposed  those  who  took  side  with  them, 
to  their  own  rules  of  warfare,  if  captured  ;  a  mo 
mentary  humanity  might  indeed  regret  this  kind 
of  retaliation  ;  but  perhaps  the  permanent  interests 
of  humanity  would  be  promoted,  as  its  tendency 
would  be  to  deter  others  from  instigating  the 
Indians  to  attack  our  people.  It  was  so  that  I 
spoke.  His  lordship  made  no  other  reply  than  to 
express  a  hope  that  every  thing  would  be  well 
explained,  the  occurrence  being  of  a  nature  to  ex 
cite  unusual  sensibility  in  England.  I  remarked 
that  I  saw  with  concern  the  inflammatory  com 
ments  of  the  public  journals,  before  the  occurrence 
could  be  rightly  understood  in  England  ;  not  that 
the  press  in  either  country  should  ever  be  left  to 
any  other  influence  or  controul,  than  its  own  will ; 
but  from  the  fear  that  it  might  forerun,  in  this  in 
stance,  the  real  nature  of  the  case,  and  raise  up 
difficulties  not  intrinsic  to  it.  He  replied  by 


334  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

disavowing  all  connexion  on  this  as  on  other 
occasions,  between  the  government  and  such  of 
the  public  prints  as  were  said  to  propagate  its 
opinions ;  remarking,  that  the  government  formed 
its  own  views  of  subjects  without  following  those  of 
the  newspapers,  or  dictating  them.  He  said  at 
parting,  that  it  was  his  intention  to  go  out  of  town 
tomorrow,  to  be  back  on  the  twenty  fifth. 

August  16.     Mr.  Gallatin  arrives  in  London. 

August  17.  Address  a  note  to  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  informing  him  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  arrival, 
and  that  we  were  ready  to  open  the  negotiation. 

August  19.  Receive  an  answer.  His  lordship 
being  still  out  of  town,  says,  that  he  will  be  happy 
to  see  us  at  dinner  at  his  country  residence,  on  the 
twenty  second.  We  are  invited  to  come  early,  to 
give  time  for  a  conference  before  dinner,  and  re 
main  all  night. 

August  20.  Employed  to  day  and  yesterday  in 
going  with  Mr.  Gallatin  to  leave  our  cards  at  the 
houses  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  diplo 
matic  corps.  As  the  minister  plenipotentiary  last 


j  g  j  g  -1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  335 

arriving,  he  makes  the  first  call,  though  only  in 
transitory  relations  with  this  court. 

August  23.  We  arrived  at  Lord  Castlereagh's 
country  seat,  North  Cray,  Kent,  sixteen  miles  from 
town,  yesterday  at  three  o'clock. 

We  found  there,  Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  Goul- 
burn,  the  two  British  plenipotentiaries.  After  a 
courteous  welcome,  we  all  withdrew  to  his  lord 
ship's  cabinet,  where  an  informal  beginning  was 
made  in  the  negotiation.  His  lordship  said,  that 
this  first  meeting  was  one  in  which  he  took  much 
interest,  though  its  principal  design  was  to  bring 
the  parties  together,  and  fix  the  subjects  rather 
than  discuss  them.  The  negotiation  was  impor 
tant  to  both  countries ;  he  sincerely  felt  it  so  to 
Great  Britain ;  his  majesty's  government  earnestly 
desired,  that  every  question  which  led  to  past  mis 
understandings,  might  be  amicably  adjusted  at 
this  season  of  peace,  so  as  to  lay  a  foundation  of 
stable  harmony  for  the  future ;  he  trusted  that  the 
aim  of  each  country  would  be  to  advance,  as  far 
as  compatible  with  its  own  rights  and  interests, 
the  just  rights  and  interests  of  the  other.  In  short, 
let  us  strive,  said  he,  so  to  regulate  our  intercourse 
in  all  respects,  as  that  "  each  nation  may  be  able 
to  do  its  utmost  towards  making  the  other  rich 


336  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

and  happy."  These  were  among  his  introductory 
remarks  ;  after  hearing  which,  Mr.  Gallatin  and  I 
did  not  fail  to  reciprocate  in  all  things  their  good 
spirit.  His  lordship  then  proceeded  to  specify  the 
points  which  the  negotiation  was  to  comprehend. 

Next,  he  spoke  of  impressment.  The  modifica 
tions  suggested  to  the  proposals  I  had  submitted 
for  excluding  British  seamen  from  our  service,  he 
would,  he  said,  repeat,  for  the  information  of  Mr. 
Gallatin.  We  expressed  at  once  our  decided  ob 
jection  to  the  second ;  but  agreed,  that  the  general 
subject  should  come  into  the  negotiation.  With 
impressment,  it  was  also  agreed,  that  we  should 
let  in  other  subjects  of  a  maritime  nature ;  such 
as,  the  doctrine  of  blockade  ;  the  right  of  a  neutral 
to  trade  with  the  colonies  of  an  enemy  in  time  of 
war  ;  the  right  of  search,  and  list  of  contraband. 
General  conversation  was  had  under  each  head. 
The  conference  closed  with  an  understanding  that 
the  plenipotentiaries  should  re-assemble  on  the 
twenty-seventh  ;  at  which  time  it  was  agreed  that 
the  negotiation  should  open  in  form. 

Business  being  over,  we  took  a  turn  through  the 
grounds.  The  day  was  fine.  We  walked  on  lawns 
from  which  sheep  were  separated  by  invisible 
fences,  and  along  shady  paths  by  the  Cray  side. 
The  Cray  is  a  narrow  river  whose  clear  waters 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  337 

here  flow  through  grassy  banks.  Not  far  off,  was 
a  hedge  of  sweet-briar,  intermingled  with  roses ; 
along  which  it  seemed  to  be  the  peculiar  object 
and  pleasure  of  Lord  Castlereagh  to  take  us.  Such, 
and  other  rural  appearances,  might  have  been 
expected  at  such  a  spot ;  but  they  were  not  all 
that  we  saw ;  there  was  something  I  had  not  ex 
pected  ;  it  was  a  menagerie.  Taste,  in  England, 
appears  to  take  every  form.  In  this  receptacle, 
were  lions,  ostriches,  kangaroos,  and  I  know  not 
what  variety  of  strange  animals.  Those  who  col 
lect  rare  books  and  pictures,  are  too  numerous  to 
be  computed ;  so,  those  who  gather  relics  and  cu 
riosities  from  different  parts  of  the  world.  Some 
persons  are  concologists ;  they  have  the  shells  of 
all  coasts  arranged  under  scientific  classification, 
like  plants  in  botany.  Some  collect  pipes,  (al 
though  not  smoking  them,)  from  the  beaded  pat 
terns  of  the  Mohawks,  to  those  of  Persia  and  Con 
stantinople  studded  with  jewels  and  gold  ;  on  the 
gratification  of  this  taste,  I  am  told  of  an  indivi 
dual  who  has  actually  laid  out  seven  thousand 
pounds  sterling.  And  here,  amidst  lawns  and 
gardens,  amidst  all  that  denoted  cultivation  and 
art,  I  beheld  wild  beasts  and  outlandish  birds — the 
tenants  of  uncivilized  forests  and  skies — set  down 

as  if  for  contrast ! 

43 


338  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Getting  back  from  our  walk,  we  were  shown  into 
our  rooms  to  dress  for  dinner.  At  dinner,  we  were 
joined  by  Lady  Castlereagh  and  the  Countess  of 
Sandwich.  Lord  Clanwilliam  and  the  two  Mr. 
Stewarts,  nephews  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  were  also 
of  the  guests,  with  Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  Goul- 
burn.  Every  thing  was  talked  of  but  the  negotia 
tion,  the  four-footed  and  feathered  occupants  of 
the  menagerie  not  being  forgotton ;  any  more  than 
a  troop  of  gypsies  encamped  in  a  field  hard  by. 
We  rose  from  the  table  at  an  early  hour.  The 
remainder  of  the  evening  passed  in  conversation, 
and  conversation  games,  to  which  the  ladies  im 
parted  the  chief  charm.  In  the  course  of  the 
evening,  I  transiently  picked  up  from  one  of  the 
tables  a  printed  volume  of  the  British  state  papers 
of  a  few  years  back ;  on  opening  which  I  observed 
the  leaves  turned  down  at  the  part  containing  the 
correspondence  of  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Pinkney, 
on  the  subject  of  the  treaty  negotiated  by  them  in 
1806,  but  rejected  on  our  side,  chiefly  because  it 
contained  no  provision  on  impressment ;  at  which 
passage  I  naturally  imagined  his  lordship  had  been 
looking,  before  our  arrival  in  the  morning.  My 
colleague  and  I  felt  at  home.  Invited  for  the  pur 
pose  of  fulfilling  public  duties,  to  the  house  of  an 
English  minister  of  state  intrenched  in  confidence 


1818*1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  339 

and  power,  we  found  ourselves  of  his  domestic 
circle,  the  partakers  of  a  hospitality  as  easy  as 
delightful.  At  twelve  we  separated  for  our  bed 
rooms. 

We  were  under  the  necessity  of  leaving  this 
agreeable  mansion  after  breakfast  this  morning. 
It  was  Sunday.  Lord  and  Lady  Castlereagh 
walked  to  the  village  church  in  the  neighbourhood, 
followed  by  their  servants,  by  whom  they  are  said 
to  be  beloved  for  their  kind  treatment  of  them. 
Those  who  oppose  his  lordship  in  politics,  accord 
to  him  every  merit  in  the  relations  of  private  life. 
To  his  uniform  and  eminent  blandness  in  all  official 
and  personal  intercourse  with  them,  the  whole 
diplomatic  corps  bear  testimony.  These  are 
qualities  that  stand  in  attractive  relief  to  those 
which  he  displays  in  the  House  of  Commons  ; 
where,  as  on  a  daily  theatre  of  combat,  frequently 
after  his  mornings  have  been  absorbed  in  laborious 
interviews  with  the  representatives  of  foreign 
nations,  you  see  in  him  always  the  courage,  the 
sagacity,  the  self  possession,  that  mark  the  disci 
plined  and  powerful  ministerial  leader,  sustained  by 
talents  for  debate  adequate  to  every  emergency ; 
not  rhetorical,  but  prompt,  vigorous,  business-like 
and  effective.  Second  in  influence  in  the  cabinet 
only  to  Lord  Liverpool,  he  almost  wielded,  in  her 


340  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

foreign  affairs,  the  destinies  of  Britain,  and,  in  a 
great  degree,  those  of  all  Europe,  at  critical  and 
momentous  periods  ;  a  power  in  him  to  which  his 
right  estimate  of  the  abilities  of  the  Duke  of  Wel 
lington,  with  whom  he  was  closely  united  in  per 
sonal  friendship  as  official  counsels,  may  be  said 
to  have  lent  its  aid.  Rival  of  Canning  let  me 
add,  and  for  a  time  the  successful  rival,  though 
in  character  so  different,  they  had  once  met  in  the 
field ;  yet,  magnanimous  in  enmity,  they  after 
wards,  at  each  other's  tables  and  elsewhere,  lived 
in  the  reciprocation  of  every  gentlemanly  courtesy 
and  good  will.  There  was  a  special  interest  in 
walking  with  such  a  man  by  his  hedge  of  sweet 
briar,  and  hearing  that  to  nurture  and  embellish 
it,  was  a  favourite  recreation  of  his  public  toil. 

The  country  between  London  and  North  Cray, 
was  undulating.  Crossing  the  Thames  at  West 
minster  Bridge,  we  left  Shooters  Hill  to  the  north. 
The  whole  way  presented  one  universal  face  of 
cultivation.  The  hop  is  extensively  grown  in  the 
county  of  Kent.  It  is  relied  upon  as  a  principal 
crop  by  the  Kentish  yeomen,  who  are  said  to  illus 
trate  finely  the  comforts  and  character  of  the 
middle  class  of  rural  population  in  England.  I 
was  told  that  but  for  the  heavy  duty  on  the  im 
portation  of  foreign  hops,  amounting  to  prohibition 


ISIS.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  341 

except  when  the  home  crops  fails,  not  a  hop  vine 
would  he  planted  in  Kent,  or  any  part  of  England. 
The  hops  from  several  other  countries,  the  United 
States  among  them,  would  be  preferred,  as  of  su 
perior  strength,  and  much  cheaper.  With  the 
corn  laws  of  England,  the  commercial  world  is 
familiar.  The  same  policy  is  extended  not  to  hops 
only,  so  connected  with  the  vast  home  consumption 
of  malt  liquor,  and  other  large  items  of  agriculture, 
but  to  the  minutest  products ;  comprehending 
eggs,  apples,  cherries,  chesnuts  !  A  careful  watch 
is  thus  kept,  it  seems,  upon  the  orchards  and  barn 
yards  of  France ! 

The  old  custom  of  gavel-kind  still  prevails  in 
Kent.  This  made  me  look  with  an  eye  of  chief 
curiosity  upon  the  country.  By  this  custom,  on 
the  death  of  a  parent,  his  land  is  divided  equally 
among  all  his  sons,  instead  of  going  to  the  eldest, 
as  in  other  parts  of  England.  The  latter  mode  of 
descent  the  English  defend  as  necessary  to  their 
prosperity  and  power.  Necessary  to  their  form  of 
government  it  doubtless  is  ;  as  nothing  else  could 
give  stability  to  their  aristocracy,  without  which 
the  throne  would  not  long  be  stable.  But  they 
say  that  it  is  necessary  to  their  agriculture,  the 
root  of  all  their  riches.  They  say,  that  without 
the  capital  which  it  places  in  the  hands  of  great 


342  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

landholders,  farming  could  not  be  carried  on  to 
full  advantage  ;  the  soil  could  not  be  improved  to 
its  utmost  capability,  small  farmers  not  being  able 
to  command  the  means,  or  willing  to  incur  the 
risk,  of  experimental  agriculture  on  a  scale  suffici 
ently  extended  to  ascertain  permanent  results, 
especially  in  connexion  with  expensive  and  con 
stantly  improving  machinery.  They  also  say, 
that,  in  the  national  aggregate,  agriculture  is 
cheaper  when  farms  are  large,  than  when  too  much 
subdivided ;  the  same  enclosures  last  through  ages, 
and  stock,  implements,  and  labour  of  all  kinds,  are 
more  economically  applied  when  kept  together 
and  applied  under  one  system,  than  when  fre 
quently  broken  into  small  parts.  It  is  so,  and 
more  at  length,  that  they  reason.  I  could  not  see 
the  proof  of  it,  in  the  portion  of  this  county  that 
fell  under  my  observation.  The  farms,  to  a  rapid 
glance,  showed  thrift,  neatness,  and  fertility ;  nor 
did  I  learn  from  those  better  informed,  that  there 
was  any  inferiority  in  the  modes  of  farming,  or 
in  general  productiveness,  as  compared  with  other 
counties  in  the  kingdom.  The  gross  product  of  agri 
culture  in  all  England,  is,  indeed,  wonderfully  great, 
when  it  is  considered  what  extensive  tracts  of  her 
territory  are  still  in  barren  downs  and  heath  ;  and 
how  much  of  the  fertile  part  is  in  pleasure  grounds. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  343 

The  wonder  augments  when  we  recollect  how 
great  a  proportion  of  her  population,  and  of 
the  domestic  animals,  consume  without  working. 
The  horses  in  England,  kept  for  luxury,  are  rec 
koned  as  fifteen  to  one  to  those  in  France.  The 
very  pheasants  are  consumers  ;  grain  being  raised 
for  feeding  them  as  they  fly  about  the  domains  of 
the  opulent.  It  needs  scarcely  be  added,  for  the 
fact  is  familiar  in  the  statistics  of  the  two  nations, 
that  the  entire  amount  and  value  of  the  agricultural 
produce  of  England  are  greater  than  of  France, 
notwithstanding  the  far  greater  extent  of  soil  in 
France. 

Gavel-kind  creates  subdivided  inheritances  only 
where  the  owner  of  an  estate  dies  intestate.  He 
may,  by  will,  prefer  the  eldest  son  ;  and  the  gene 
ral  feeling  in  England  upon  this  subject,  which  is 
so  strong  in  favour  of  keeping  estates  together, 
that  even  younger  sons  largely  acquiesce  in  it, 
exerts  an  influence  in  Kent.  Some  lands  are  spe 
cially  exempt  by  law,  from  the  custom,  though 
most  of  them  are  still  subject  to  it.  It  is  said, 
that  Surrenden-house,  in  this  county,  the  present 
residence  of  Sir  Edward  Bering,  was  rebuilt,  upon 
its  old  foundations,  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  the 
lineage  of  the  proprietor  being  traceable  by  family 
records  to  a  period  as  early  as  the  Norman  con- 


344  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

quest.  I  estimate  fully  the  political  objections  to 
primogeniture,  and  deal  not  with  it  in  this  light ; 
but  the  imagination  feels  the  force  of  a  mere  rule 
of  law  that  can  link  time  present  to  time  remote  ; 
that  can  preserve  unbroken  throughout  centuries, 
outward  memorials  around  which  it  is  in  man's  na 
ture  that  his  moral  associations  should  linger.  In 
gazing  upon  these  ancient,  massive  structures,  with 
their  turretted  roofs,  their  vaulted  ceilings,  their  spa 
cious  halls,  we  are  apt  to  forget  the  tyranny  under 
which  they  were  first  reared,  and  the  rude  customs 
and  superstitions  of  their  age.  These  are  gone, 
whilst  the  romance  of  their  history  remains,  stealing 
into  the  feelings  when  they  are  approached  as  seats 
of  modern  hospitality  ;  for  so  it  is  that  here,  as  on 
many  other  occasions,  the  feelings  will  be  touched 
by  what  the  sense  of  right  condemns. 

The  interest  of  the  whole  excursion  was  in 
creased  to  me  by  the  companionship  of  Mr.  Galla- 
tin.  His  station  as  minister  plenipotentiary  at 
Paris,  has  added  to  all  his  other  information,  much 
insight  into  the  courts  and  cabinets  of  Europe.  A 
keen  observer  of  men,  and  possessing  a  knowledge 
of  books,  which  his  knowledge  of  the  world  has 
taught  him  how  to  read,  his  stores  of  conversation 
are  abundant  and  ever  at  command.  He  did  me 
the  favour  to  take  a  seat  in  my  carriage,  and  in 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  345 

his  flow  of  anecdote  and  reflections,  I  had  an  in 
tellectual  repast. 

August  27.  The  plenipotentiaries  assembled  at 
the  office  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Whitehall.  The 
full  powers  on  each  side  were  exhibited,  and  in 
spected  by  the  other.  A  copy  of  ours  was  handed 
to  the  British  plenipotentiaries,  and  a  copy  of 
their's  promised  at  the  next  meeting. 

We  presented  a  paper  containing  a  recapitula 
tion  of  the  subjects  which,  by  our  understanding, 
were  to  be  treated  of.  They  were  as  follow.  1. 
The  slave  question  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  2. 
The  fisheries.  3.  North-western  boundary  line. 
J^Columbia  river  question.  5.  Renewal  of  the 
commercial  convention  of  1815.  6.  Intercourse 
between  the  United  States  and  British  West  In 
dia  Islands.  7.  Intercourse  by  sea  between  the 
United  States  and  British  North  American  colo 
nies.  8.  Inland  intercourse  between  same  and 
same.  9.  Impressment.  10.  Blockades.  11. 
Colonial  trade  in  time  of  war.  12.  List  of  con 
traband.  13.  Miscellaneous,  minor,  questions. 

The  British  plenipotentiaries  agreed  to  this  re 
capitulation.  Referring  to  the  fifth  head,  they 
asked  whether  we  intended  to  discuss  the  provi 
sions  of  the  existing  convention ;  that  instrument 

44 


346  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

might  not,  they  remarked,  contain  for  either  party 
all  that  was  wished ;  but  if  opened,  each  would 
have  alterations  to  propose,  which  would  throw 
the  whole  at  large.  Under  this  reasoning,  it  was 
determined  not  to  open  it  for  discussion.  We  ex 
pressed  a  desire  not  to  proceed  immediately  to  the 
formal  act  of  renewal,  but  wait  a  reasonable  time 
to  ascertain  the  progress  made  on  other  points. 
The  desire  was  acceded  to.  The  British  plenipo 
tentiaries  stated  that  they  did  not  view  this  con 
vention  as  connected  with  any  of  the  other  points, 
alleging  that  they  had  been  ready,  but  for  our 
asking  a  pause,  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  act  of 
renewal.  Both  parties  united  in  the  propriety  of 
its  being  renewed  in  time  to  let  the  merchant^C 
the  two  countries  be  seasonably  informed  of  t^P 
ground  on  which  they  were  to  stand.  After  some 
conversation  on  other  points,  the  meeting  adjourn 
ed  to  the  twenty-ninth.  It  was  agreed  that  the 
negotiation  should  be  carried  on  by  conferences 
and  protocols,  the  privilege  being  open  to  either 
party  of  recording  their  sentiments  on  the  proto 
cols. 

Whitehall  is  one  of  the  ancient  palaces  of  Lon 
don  ;  of  which,  though  many  alterations  have  been 
made,  there  are  portions  of  architecture  in  the  in 
terior  that  show  the  traces.  The  room  in  which 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  347 

we  assembled,  had  once  been  the  bed  chamber  of 
the  Duke  of  Monmouth ;  it  was  also  mentioned, 
that  Gibbon,  when  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  had  often  written  at  the  table  before  us. 

August  29.  The  plenipotentiaries  met.  The 
protocol  of  the  last  conference,  as  drawn  up  by 
the  British  plenipotentiaries,  was  read  and  adopt 
ed.  We  had  also  prepared  one,  but  the  former 
was  preferred,  as  shortest.  They  gave  us  a  copy 
of  their  full  powers. 

Regular  discussions  now  commenced.  The 
question  about  £he  slaves  first  presented  itself. 
During  the  war  of  1812,  great  numbers  of  this  de- 

iption  of  population  belonging  to  the  landed 

roprietors  of  the  southern  states,  had  found  their 
way  to  British  ships  in  the  Chesapeake,  or  other 
waters  of  the  Union.  A  large  portion  had  gone 
on  board  of  them,  under  proclamations  from  the 
British  naval  commanders ;  some  without  these 
incentives.  Others  had  been  captured  during  the 
progress  of  the  war.  Their  loss  was  heavily  felt 
by  the  owners.  By  the  first  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Ghent,  it  was  provided,  that  "  all  territory, 
places,  and  possessions,  taken  by  either  party  from 
the  other  during  the  war,  or  which  may  be  taken 
after  the  signing  of  this  treaty,  shall  be  restored 


348  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

without  delay,  and  without  causing  any  destruction, 
or  carrying  away  any  of  the  artillery,  or  other  public 
property,  originally  captured  in  the  said  forts  or 
places,  and  which  shall  remain  therein  after  the  ex 
change  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty,  OR  ANY 


SLAVES  OR  OTHER  PRIVATE  PROPERTY." 


Slaves  came  under  the  denomination  of  private 
property,  by  the  highest  sanction  of  our  laws.  The 
United  States  held  it  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  the 
foregoing  clause,  that  the  British  were  to  carry  off 
no  slaves  within  our  limits,  and  in  their  possession, 
at  the  time  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaties,  whe 
ther  such  slaves  were  on  board  4/ieir  ships,  or  in 
forts,  or  other  places  on  shore,  held  by  their  troops. 

Great  Britain  contended  for  a  more  restrict^ 
construction.     She  said,  that  those  slaves  only  werP 
not  to  be  carried  off,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  exchange 
of  the  ratifications,  were  in  the  forts  and  places  where 
they  had  been  originally  taken.     This  was  the  ques 
tion  at  issue  between  the  two  nations. 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  slaves  of  whom 
the  proprietors  had,  by  one  means  or  other,  been 
despoiled,  were  attached  to  places  that  the  British 
had  never  reduced  or  taken,  during  the  war.  Very 
few  had  been  in  forts  or  places  so  taken,  or  at  all 
events  remained  in  them,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
ratifications  of  the  treaty ;  in  effect  therefore,  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  349 

British  construction  of  the  clause  would  have 
rendered  it  nearly  inoperative  as  to  any  benefit  to 
the  owners  of  the  slaves. 

We  unfolded  the  views  of  our  government  on 
this  subject.  The  British  plenipotentiaries  replied 
and  stated  theirs.  They  asked  whether  our  claim 
embraced  such  of  the  slaves  as  had  been  captured 
at  any  periods  during  the  war,  carried  out  of  our 
limits,  and  then  brought  back  again  into  some 
bay  or  harbour,  other  than  where  they  had  been 
originally  captured.  We  answered  in  the  affir 
mative  ;  assigning  as  one  reason,  that  we  did  not 
consider  even  the  original  capturing  of  the  slaves, 
under  whatever  circumstances,  justified  by  the  or 
dinary  usages  of  war.  The  British  plenipotentia 
ries  did  not  accede  to  this  doctrine. 

No  definite  proposals  of  any  kind  resulted  from 
this  day's  discussions.  It  was  agreed  that  we 
should  adjourn  to  Friday  the  fourth  of  September. 
The  British  plenipotentiaries  hoped  to  be  ready  by 
that  day  to  submit  proposals  on  impressment,  we 
promising  to  hand  in,  immediately  afterwards,  ours 
on  other  maritime  questions.  We  made  known 
our  intention  not  to  discuss  any  maritime  question, 
unless  that  of  impressment  was  brought  forward  by 
Great  Britain. 


350  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ("1818. 

September  1.  Called  on  Lord  Castlereagh.  He 
had  sent  a  note  requesting  to  see  me.  His  tra 
velling  carriages  were  at  the  door,  preparatory  to 
his  departure  for  Dover  on  his  journey  to  the 
continent.  He  remarked,  that  he  had  delayed  this 
interview  as  his  last  act  of  business  ;  but  not  one 
least  in  his  thoughts.  It  was  to  make  a  commu 
nication  to  me  on  impressment.  He  had  reported 
to  the  cabinet  all  that  passed  at  our  preparatory 
meeting  at  North  Cray,  making  known  especially 
our  objections  to  the  condition  which  went  to  au 
thorise  a  British  boarding  officer  to  call  for  a  list 
of  the  crew.  The  British  government  felt  an 
anxious  desire  to  accommodate  this  difficult  sub 
ject,  and  had  determined  upon  going  all  practicable 
lengths ;  he  had  therefore  to  inform  me,  that  this 
condition  would  be  waved.  Such  had  been  the 
determination  of  the  cabinet ;  he  took  great  plea 
sure  he  said  in  apprizing  me  of  it,  hoping  I  would 
see  in  it,  proof  of  the  friendly  feeling  which  pre 
vailed  in  its  councils  towards  the  United  States. 

I  replied  in  suitable  terms  to  his  communication. 
Continuing  his  remarks,  he  said,  that  the  course 
which  the  cabinet  had  resolved  upon,  would  prob 
ably  give  a  shock  to  public  feeling  in  England 
when  known ;  but  its  members  would  be  prepared 
to  meet  it.  He  concluded  by  observing,  that  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  351 

great  principle  being  at  last  settled,  viz.  that  on 
our  engaging  not  to  employ  British  seamen,  the 
practice  of  impressment  from  our  vessels  would 
cease,  he  hoped  all  details  would  be  easily  arrang 
ed  ;  their  proposals,  put  into  form,  would  be  ready 
as  soon  as  we  were  prepared  with  ours  on  the 
fisheries  and  West  India  trade. 

A  few  words  were  exchanged  on  other  points. 
Speaking  of  the  trade  in  time  of  war  with  the 
colonial  ports  of  a  belligerent,  I  perceived  a  disin 
clination  in  his  mind  to  consider  it  as  among  the 
questions  to  be  treated  of.  He  said  that  the  rule 
of  '56  was  one  that  Great  Britain  regarded  as 
so  well  established  that  he  did  not  see  how  we 
could  touch  it.  I  replied,  that  I  had  been  under 
the  belief  that  the  question  was  to  come  into  the 
negotiation,  whatever  might  prove  its  fate ;  add 
ing,  that  the  two  governments  had  been  so  near 
an  adjustment  of  it  heretofore,  that  there  seemed  no 
reason  to  despair  now.  At  this  point  of  the  con 
versation,  Sir  William  Scott  was  announced,  who 
had  come  to  say  a  few  words  to  him.  The  coin 
cidence  claims  a  passing  notice.  This  celebrated 
judge  of  the  English  court  of  Admiralty,  in  whose 
decrees  eloquence  always  unites  with  learning  to 
stretch  the  belligerent  and  depress  the  neutral 
claim,  was  the  same  whose  elaborate  judgment  in 


352  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  case  of  the  Immanuel,  had  done  so  much 
towards  fortifying  the  British  government  in  the 
very  rule  we  were  talking  about !  Our  conversa 
tion  dropped.  His  lordship  was  on  the  eve  of 
departure  and  could  not  prolong  it.  He  requested 
I  would  impart  to  Mr.  Gallatin  what  had  passed 
on  impressment,  and  gave  me  his  adieus.  A  few 
minutes  afterwards,  his  carriages  drove  off. 

The  affairs  of  the  foreign  office  were  confided, 
during  his  absence,  to  Earl  Bathurst ;  who  receiv 
ed,  and  corresponded  with,  the  foreign  ministers. 
The  chief  purpose  of  the  congress  of  Aix  La  Cha- 
pelle  was,  to  determine  whether  the  armies  of  the 
allied  powers  should  be  withdrawn  from  France 
this  autumn,  or  remain  two  years  longer.  Besides 
other  considerations  galling  to  France  in  the  oc 
cupation,  the  expense,  which  she  was  made  to 
bear,  pressed  heavily  upon  her.  Other  European 
topics  were  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  con 
gress  ;  and  the  business  of  Spanish  America  was 
not  to  be  passed  by,  as  Lord  Castlereagh  had,  on 
a  former  occasion,  intimated  to  me. 


!818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  353 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Progress  of  the  negotiation.  A  convention  concluded.  Ques 
tions  arranged  by  it,  viz.  that  of  the  Fisheries — North-wes 
tern  boundery  line — Columbia  river  and  territory  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains — Commercial  Convention  of  1815 — Slaves 
carried  off  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent. 


THE  plenipotentiaries  assembled  again  at  White 
hall,  according  to  appointment. 

Having  given  an  account  of  the  first  stages  of 
the  negotiation  in  the  order  of  dates,  it  is  no  longer 
my  design  to  proceed  in  that  manner.  It  has  been 
seen  that  the  subjects  were  multifarious.  All  de 
manded  attention ;  some,  copious  discussions. 
These,  with  the  documents  at  large,  the  protocols, 
the  projets  and  counter-projets,  debated  and  mo 
dified  by  the  scrutiny  of  each  side,  would  present 
a  mass  of  matter  through  which  the  diplomatist  or 
politician  might  perhaps  wade ;  but  be  little  at 
tractive  to  any  one  else.  My  endeavour  will  be, 

to  embody  an  intelligible  history  of  the  negotiation, 

45 


354  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

by  giving  results  rather  than  details.  The  latter 
are  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  two  govern 
ments.  I  will  draw  upon  them  to  no  greater  ex 
tent  than  may  be  necessary  to  illustrate  principles 
upon  which  the  negotiation  turned,  whether  in  its 
success  or  failure.  Some  of  these  principles  are 
important  to  both  nations;  and  to  record  them 
with  impartiality  and  justice  to  both,  is  the  aim 
I  propose  to  myself. 

Throughout  September  and  October,  meetings 
were  as  constant  as  was  compatible  with  matur 
ing  in  a  proper  manner  the  various  subjects  in 
hand.  By  the  twentieth  of  October,  all  appeared 
to  have  been  fully  discussed.  The  points  were 
ascertained  on  which  there  could  be  agreement, 
as  well  as  those  on  which  it  was  hopeless,  in  the 
existing  disposition  of  the  two  governments,  to 
continue  the  negotiation  longer.  Accordingly,  on 
that  day,  a  convention  was  signed,  which  compre 
hended  the  following  subjects : 

I.  That  of  the  FISHERIES.  This,  although  not 
first  in  the  order  of  discussion,  carne  first  in  the 
convention.  The  points  of  misunderstanding  had 
not  risen  to  much  height,  practically ;  but  it  is 
scarcely  going  too  far  to  say,  that  they  menaced 
the  peace  of  the  two  countries.  They  therefore 
merit  special  notice. 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  355 

By  the  third  article  of  the  treaty  of  September 
1783,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Bri 
tain,  the  people  of  the  former  had  the  RIGHT  to  take 
fish  on  the  Grand  Bank,  and  all  other  banks  of 
Newfoundland ;  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and 
all  other  places  in  the  sea,  where  the  inhabitants  of 
both  countries  had  been  used  to  fish  before  ;  and  the 
LIBERTY  to  fish  on  such  part  of  the  coast  of  Newfound 
land  as  British  fishermen  used,  (but  not  to  dry  or 
cure  fish  there,)  and  on  the  coasts,  bays  and  creeks 
of  all  other  British  dominions  in  America.  Ameri 
can  fishermen  had  also  the  liberty  to  dry  and  cure 
fish  in  any  unsettled  bays,  harbours,  and  creeks  of 
Nova  Scotia,  Magdalen  Islands,  and  Labrador  ;  but 
as  soon  as  any  of  them  were  settled,  this  liberty  was 
to  cease,  unless  continued  by  agreement  with  the 
inhabitants. 

These  were  rights  and  liberties  of  great  magni 
tude  to  the  United  States.  Besides  affording  pro 
fitable  fields  of  commerce,  they  fostered  a  race  of 
seamen,  conducive  to  the  national  riches  in  peace, 
as  to  defence  and  glory  in  war.  After  the  peace 
of  Ghent,  the  fishing  vessels  of  the  Union  proceed 
ed  as  formerly  to  fish  off  the  British  coasts,  and  use 
the  unsettled  shores  for  curing  and  drying,  accord 
ing  to  the  stipulations  of  the  above  treaty.  They 
were  immediately  ordered  off  by  the  British  naval 


356  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

forces.  Some  were  captured.  The  ground  alleg 
ed  was,  that  the  treaty  was  no  longer  in  existence. 
The  government  of  the  United  States  obtained  a 
suspension  of  these  apparently  hostile  orders  and 
proceedings,  until  the  two  governments  could  make 
efforts  for  adjusting"  a  question  of  so  much  moment. 

The  British  doctrine  was,  that  the  treaty  of 
1783,  not  being  re-enacted  or  confirmed  by  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  was  annulled  by  the  war  of  1812. 

The  United  States  wholly  dissented  from  this 
doctrine.  They  did  not  deny  the  general  rule  of 
public  law  on  which  Britain  relied ;  that  a  war 
puts  an  end  to  previous  treaties  ;  but  they  insisted 
that  the  rule  was  not  applicable  to  the  treaty  of 
1783.  That  treaty,  was  peculiar  in  its  nature 
and  objects.  It  had  no  analogy  to  common 
treaties  and  was  not  to  be  judged  by  their  rules. 
It  was  a  treaty  by  which  Great  Britain  had  ac 
knowledged  the  independence  of  the  United  States, 
after  a  seven  years  contest  in  arms.  It  made  two 
empires  out  of  one.  It  was  a  treaty  of  separation. 
The  rights  of  each  party  were  laid  down  as 
primary  and  fundamental,  in  the  act  of  dismember 
ment  which  the  treaty  established.  So  much  of 
territory  and  incidental  rights  in  America,  were 
allotted  to  one,  so  much  to  the  other.  The  entire 
instrument  implied  permanence.  Hence  all  the 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  357 

fishing  rights  secured  under  it  to  the  United  States, 
were  placed  by  Great  Britain  upon  the  same  foun 
dation  with  their  independence  itself.  Was  her 
acknowledgment  of  the  latter  revoked  by  the  war 
of  1812  ?  or  were  the  boundaries  of  the  United 
States  as  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  annulled  by 
that  war  ?  So  far  was  this  from  being  the  case, 
that  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  in  making  provision  for 
ascertaining  with  further  accuracy  some  parts  of 
the  boundary  line,  constantly  referred  to  the  treaty 
of  1783 ;  thus  manifesting  a  tacit  conviction  on 
each  side,  that  this  treaty  was  regarded  as  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  relations  between  the  two 
countries.  By  what  rule  then  was  the  war  to 
destroy  the  treaty  in  some  parts  and  leave  it  whole 
in  others  ?  The  use  of  the  word  right  in  one  place 
and  liberty  in  another,  could  make  no  difference. 
A  liberty  of  unlimited  duration,  secured  by  so  ele 
mentary  and  solemn  a  deed,  was  as  much  a  right 
as  if  stipulated  by  any  other  term.  In  speaking  of 
rights  and  liberties  in  a  national  sense,  both  terms 
were  alike  efficacious.  Liberty  might  have  seemed 
the  more  appropriate  term  where  an  enjoyment 
was  guaranteed  to  one  party,  of  a  thing  adjoining 
territory  allotted  to  the  other  ;  but  it  took  nothing 
from  the  permanence  of  the  allotment.  In  point 
of  principle  the  United  States  were  preeminently 


358  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

entitled  to  all  these  fisheries ;  and  in  point  of  fact 
they  had  enjoyed  more  of  them  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  British  empire  before  the  separation. 
The  people  of  New  England,  from  their  proximity, 
had  been  earlier  led  to  the  discovery  and  improve 
ment  of  the  best  fishing  grounds,  and  had  also, 
with  other  parts  of  the  Union,  contributed  amply 
in  blood  and  treasure  towards  winning  from 

C5 

France,  provinces  on  the  coast  of  which  some  of 
the  fisheries  were  situated.     Apart  from  the  ques 
tion  of  right,  the  claim  of  the  United  States  had 
high  sanctions.     These  fisheries  afforded  subsis 
tence  to  a  numerous  class  of  their  inhabitants. 
By  the  usages  of  nations,  fishermen  were  a  portion 
of  human  society  whose  occupations,  contributing 
to  the  general  welfare  of  the  species,  were  always 
regarded  with  favour.     Sometimes  they  were  even 
exempt  from  the  effects  of  war  whilst  it  raged  ; 
as  when  England  herself  allowed  the  Dutch  to  fish 
upon  her  coasts  at  such  seasons.     The  foregoing 
is  a  synopsis  of  the  material  arguments  by  which 
the  claim   of  the  United    States  was   defended. 
Whatever  could  shed  light   upon    it,    had   been 
urged  by  Mr.  Adams  when  in  the  English  mission, 
with  an  ability  and  fulness  that  left  little  to  be  said 
after  him. 

The  claim  was  resisted  by  Great  Britain  in  a 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  359 

manner  to  give  proof  of  her  equal  sincerity  in  the 
opposite  doctrine.  She  denied  that  the  treaty  of 
1783  had  any  thing  in  its  nature  to  exempt  it  from 
abrogation  by  a  war.  She  knew  of  no  exception 
to  this  rule  of  international  law,  and  could  not 
consent  to  give  to  her  diplomatic  relations  with 
one  state,  a  different  degree  of  permanence  from 
that  on  which  her  connexion  with  all  other  states 
depended.  She  did  not  admit  that  this  treaty  was 
to  be  regarded  as  in  force  because  the  treaty  of 
Ghent  had  referred  to  it  on  the  subject  of  bounda 
ries.  One  object  of  the  latter  treaty  was,  the 
mutual  restoration  of  territory  taken  by  either 
party  from  the  other  during  the  war.  As  a  neces 
sary  consequence  of  such  a  stipulation,  each  party 
reverted  to  their  boundaries  as  before  the  war ; 
and  the  treaty  of  1783  having  fixed  these,  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  had  referred  to  them  as  facts, 
nothing  more.  She  contended  that  it  was  not 
unusual  for  treaties  containing  recognitions  and 
acknowledgments  of  perpetual  obligation,  to  con 
tain  likewise  grants  of  privileges  liable  to  be  re 
voked.  The  treaty  of  1783  contained  provisions 
of  different  characters ;  some  in  perpetuity,  others 
from  their  nature,  temporary.  If  it  were  inferred 
because  some  of  the  advantages  specified  would 
not  be  lost  by  a  war,  that  therefore  all  were  de- 


360  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

signed  to  be  permanent,  it  ought  first  to  be  shown 
that  the  advantages  themselves  were  the  same; 
or  at  least  of  similar  character.  But  what  neces 
sary  connexion  was  there  between  a  right  to 
national  independence,  and  a  liberty  to  fish  within 
British  jurisdiction,  or  use  British  territory  ? 
Liberties  within  British  limits,  were  as  capable  of 
being  exercised  by  a  dependent,  as  an  independent 
state ;  they  could  not  therefore  be  the  necessary 
consequence  of  independence.  The  independence 
of  a  nation  was  that  which  could  not  be  correctly 
said  to  be  granted  by  a  treaty,  but  to  be  acknow 
ledged  by  one.  In  the  treaty  of  1783  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  United  States  was  acknowledged 
by  Great  Britain,  as  it  had  already  been  by  the 
powers  of  Europe ;  and  by  Britain  herself,  in  her 
previous  consent  in  November  1782,  to  enter  into 
provisional  articles.  Their  independence  might 
have  been  acknowledged  without  either  the  treaty 
or  provisional  articles ;  but  by  whatever  mode 
acknowledged,  the  acknowledgment  was,  in  its 
nature,  irrevocable.  A  power  of  revoking  or  even 
modifying  it,  would  be  destructive  of  the  thing 
itself,  and  was  therefore  necessarily  renounced 
when  the  acknowledgment  was  made.  She  urged 
as  corroborative  of  her  reasoning,  notwithstanding 
the  explanations  suggested  by  the  American  pie- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  351 

nipotentiaries,  the  use  of  the  word  RIGHT  when  the 
United  States  were  to  take  fish  on  the  banks,  and 
other  places  from  which  Great  Britain  could  not 
pretend  to  exclude  any  independent  nation,  and 
LIBERTY  when  they  were  to  cure  and  dry  within 
British  territory.  The  latter  was  also  made  to 
depend  on  agreements  with  the  proprietors  of  the 
soil,  whenever  the  territory  might  become  settled. 
As  to  the  origin  of  the  fishing  privileges  in  point 
of  fact,  she  admitted  that  whilst  the  United  States 
made  part  of  the  British  dominions,  their  inhabi 
tants  had  the  enjoyment  of  them  in  common  with 
other  British  subjects;  but  they  had  at  the  same 
time,  like  British  subjects  every  where,  duties  to 
perform.  When  therefore  the  United  States,  by 
their  separation  from  Great  Britain,  became  releas 
ed  from  the  duties,  they  became  excluded  also  from 
the  privileges  of  British  subjects.  The  above  is  a 
summary  of  the  reasoning  in  its  chief  parts, 
against  our  claim.  It  was  embodied  in  a  paper 
by  Lord  Bathurst,  in  October  1815,  prepared  with 
the  force  and  zeal  that  the  subject  demanded. 
The  views  of  each  party  on  the  question,  had  not 
been  left  out  of  sight  in  negotiating  the  treaty  of 
Ghent. 

To  the  distinction  so  much  insisted  on  by  Great 

Britain  between  LIBERTY  and  RIGHT,  it  was  replied 

46 


362  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

for  the  United  States,  that  the  former,  if  construed 
to  imply  limitation  of  time,  or  precariousness  of 
tenure,  would  defeat  the  whole  meaning  of  the 
article  as  gathered  from  the  context.  The  restric 
tion  itself  at  the  close  of  the  article,  stamped  per 
manence  upon  it.  The  intention  was,  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  should  continue  to 
enjoy  all  the  benefit  they  had  formerly  enjoyed 
from  the  fisheries,  with  the  exception  of  drying 
and  curing  on  the  shores  of  Newfoundland ;  but 
when  other  shores  on  which  they  were  to  have 
this  liberty,  became  settled,  then  its  exercise  was 
to  be  conciliated  with  the  proprietary  rights  of  the 
owners  of  the  freehold.  This  was  precisely  the 
restriction  to  which  British  fishermen  would  be 
liable.  Whence  it  followed,  that  the  argument 
against  permanence  on  account  of  the  word  LIBER 
TY  being  used,  if  applicable  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  United  States,  would  also  be  applicable  to  the 
subjects  of  Britain.  The  argument  therefore  by 
proving  too  much,  proved  nothing.  The  princi 
ples  of  municiple  law  in  England,  which  were  the 
same  in  the  United  States,  corroborated  the  inter 
pretation  for  which  the  latter  contended.  By 
these,  the  property  of  a  fishery  was  not  necessarily 
in  the  owner  of  the  soil.  The  right  to  the  soil 
might  be  exclusive ;  the  fishery,  free  or  in  com- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  353 

mon.  Thus,  whilst  in  this  partition  of  the  national 
possessions  in  America,  the  jurisdiction  over  the 
shores  where  the  fisheries  were  situated  was  re 
served  to  Great  Britain,  the  fisheries  themselves 
and  accommodations  essential  to  their  prosecution 
and  enjoyment,  were,  by  the  mutual  compact, 
agreed  to  be  in  common.  How  different  the  course 
adopted  in  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  on  a  similar  point. 
By  the  twelfth  article  of  that  treaty,  Nova  Scotia 
was  ceded  to  Britain ;  yet  the  subjects  of  France 
were  expressly  excluded  from  fishing  within  thirty 
leagues  of  the  coast.  This  prohibition  was  re 
newed  in  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Paris  of 
1763.  By  the  eighteenth  article  of  the  same 
treaty,  the  subjects  of  Spain  were  excluded  from 
all  fishing  rights  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New 
foundland.  The  treaty  of  1783  was,  therefore,  it 
was  again  insisted,  altogether  unlike  common  trea 
ties.  It  contemplated  a  permanent  division  of 
coequal  rights,  not  a  transient  grant  of  mere  pri 
vileges.  The  acknowledgment  of  independence, 
the  establishment  of  boundaries,  and  the  guarantee 
of  the  fisheries,  each  rested  upon  the  same  immu 
table  basis. 

Neither  side  yielded  its  convictions  to  the  rea 
soning  of  the  other.  This  being  exhausted,  there 
was  no  resource  left  with  nations  disposed  to 


3  64  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  f  1 8 1 8 

peace,  but  a  compromise.  Great  Britain  grew 
willing  to  give  up  something.  The  United  States 
consented  to  take  less  than  the  whole.  After  va 
rious  proposals  by  the  former,  which  the  latter 
rejected  as  inadequate,  we  at  length,  as  their  plen 
ipotentiaries,  acceded  to  the  following  :  viz. 

That  the  United  States  should  have,  FOREVER,  in 
common  with  British  subjects,  the  liberty  to  fish  on 
the  southern  coast  of  Newfoundland,  from  Cape  Ray 
to  the  Ramcau  Islands  ;  and  from  that  cape  to  the 
Quirpon  Islands  on  the  western  and  northern  coasts  ; 
and  on  the  shores  of  the  Magdalen  Islands  ;  and  on 
the  coasts,  bays,  harbours  and  creeks  from  Mount 
Joli,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Labrador,  through  the 
Straits  of  Belleisle,  and  thence  indefinitely  along 
the  coast,  northwardly  ;  but  without  prejudice  to  any 
exclusive  rights  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  :  Also 
the  liberty,  FOREVER,  to  dry  and  cure  fish  in  any  of 
the  unsettled  bays,  harbours  and  creeks  of  the  sou- 
them  coast  of  Newfoundland,  as  above  described ; 
and  of  the  coast  of  Labrador  ;  subject,  after  settle 
ment,  to  agreement  with  the  proprietors  of  the 
Inconsequence  of  the  above  stipulations,  the  United 
States  renounced  forever  the  liberty  of  fishing  within 
three  miles  of  any  other  part  of  the  British  coasts  in 
America,  or  of  curing  or  drying  on  them.  But 
American  fishermen  were  to  be  permitted  to  enter 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON-  365 

bays  or  harbours  on  the  prohibited  coasts  for  shelter, 
repairing  damages,  and  obtaining  wood  and  water, 
subject  to  restrictions  necessary  to  prevent  abuses. 

Such  was  the  article  finally  agreed  upon.  The 
most  difficult  part  of  our  task,  was  on  the  question 
of  permanence.  Britain  would  not  consent  to  an 
express  clause  that  a  future  war  was  not  to  abro 
gate  the  rights  secured  to  us.  We  inserted  the 
word  forever,  and  drew  up  a  paper  to  be  of  record 
in  the  negotiation,  purporting  that  if  the  conven 
tion  should  from  any  cause  be  vacated,  all  anterior 
rights  were  to  revive.  The  insertion  of  any  words 
of  perpetuity,  was  strenuously  resisted  by  the 
British  plenipotentiaries.  They  said  that  in  case 
of  war,  the  only  effect  of  their  omission  would  be, 
the  necessity  of  providing  in  the  treaty  of  peace, 
for  the  renewal  of  the  right.  We  replied  that  we 
could  agree  to  no  article  on  the  subject,  unless  the 
word  forever  was  retained  ;  or  if  any  counter  re 
cord  was  made  on  the  protocol  impairing  its  effect. 

It  was  by  our  act  that  the  United  States 
renounced  the  right  to  the  fisheries  not  guaranteed 
to  them  by  the  convention.  That  clause  did  not 
find  a  place  in  the  British  counter-projet.  We 
deemed  it  proper  under  a  threefold  view;  1,  to 
exclude  the  implication  of  the  fisheries  secured  to 
us  being  a  new  grant ;  2,  to  place  the  rights  se- 


366  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

cured  and  renounced,  on  the  same  footing  of  per 
manence  ;  3,  that  it  might  expressly  appear,  that 
our  renunciation  was  limited  to  three  miles  from 
the  coasts.  This  last  point  we  deemed  of  the 
more  consequence  from  our  fishermen  having  in 
formed  us,  that  the  whole  fishing  ground  on  the 
coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  extended  to  a  greater  dis 
tance  than  three  miles  from  land  ;  whereas,  along 
the  coasts  of  Labrador  it  was  almost  universally 
close  in  with  the  shore.  To  the  saving  of  the 
exclusive  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
we  did  not  object.  The  charter  of  that  company 
had  been  granted  in  1670,  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  had  never  enjoyed  rights  in  that  bay 
that  could  trench  upon  those  of  the  company. 
Finally,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  liberty  of 
drying  and  curing  on  certain  parts  of  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  as  secured  in  the  article,  had  not 
been  allotted  to  the  United  States  even  under  the 
old  treaty  of  1783. 

When  the  convention  was  made  public,  it  under 
went  criticism  in  Britain  as  too  favourable, 
throughout,  to  the  United  States.  But  this  article 
on  the  fisheries,  was  assailed  with  peculiar  force. 
The  leading  presses  of  London,  opened  their 
batteries  against  it.  The  claims  of  the  United 
States  were  described  as  of  frightful  magnitude ; 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  367 

the  concessions  by  England,  as  of  a  character  cor 
responding.  Important  maritime  interests  of  the 
British  empire,  were  said  to  have  been  sacrificed. 
Complaints  poured  in  from  the  colonies.  The 
legislative  assembly  and  council  of  Nova  Scotia, 
sent  forward  remonstrances,  with  which  were 
mixed  up,  not  unsparingly,  charges  of  American 
ambition  and  encroachment.  The  tide  of  complaint 
was  swelled  by  the  recollection  of  similar  alleged 
sacrifices  under  the  treaty  of  Paris  of  1814. 
Britain  by  that  treaty,  said  the  journals,  had  given 
back,  and  this  when  she  was  at  the  height  of  in 
fluence  and  power,  to  France,  her  great  European 
rival,  the  enjoyment  of  the  Newfoundland  fisheries, 
from  which  twenty  years  of  victorious  warfare 
upon  the  ocean  had  totally  driven  her ;  and  now 
the  calamity  was  to  be  doubled,  by  a  like  gift  to 
her  rival  in  the  other  hemisphere  ! 

British  statesmen,  more  cairn,  thought  and  acted 
otherwise.  They  had  not  been  deterred  by  the 
anticipation  of  clamor  from  entering  into  the 
article.  They  felt  that  if  they  had  a  duty  to  fulfil 
by  guarding  British  interests  on  the  one  hand,  they 
were  not  released  from  the  obligation  of  looking 
to  the  just  rights  of  an  independent  nation  on  the 
other.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  a  formidable  cause 
of  collision  was  removed,  without  impairing  the 


368  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

honour,  or,  as  is  believed,  the  essential  interests  of 
either  country. 

Yet  it  is  proper  for  the  United  States  to  bear  in 
mind,  that  Great  Britain  still  holds  to  the  doctrine 
that  the  war  of  1812  totally  abrogated  the  original 
treaty  of  1783  on  the  question  of  the  fisheries ; 
the  inference  from  which  may  be,  that  she  would 
also  hold  this  convention  of  1818  to  be  abrogated 
on  the  same  point  by  a  future  war,  notwithstanding 
our  insertion  of  words  of  perpetuity.  Hence, 
apart  from  the  historical  interest  of  this  part  of 
the  negotiation,  there  is  an  existing  interest  in  it 
from  the  contingent  importance  of  the  same 
question  in  time  to  come. 

II.  The  second  article  related  to  the  boundary 
line,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  This  line 
had  been  originally  laid  down  in  the  treaty  of 
1783.  It  proved  defective,  and  further  provision 
was  made  for  running  it,  in  the  treaty  of  1794. 
Several  attempts  for  effecting  this  provision, 
came  to  nothing.  The  cession  of  Louisiana  by 
France  in  1803,  gave  to  the  United  States  new 
and  extensive  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
This  altered  the  relative  position  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  in  this  quarter,  and  the 
hitherto  unsettled  boundary  was  now  arranged. 
It  was  provided,  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  most 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  369 

northwestern  point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
along  the  forty  ninth  degree  of  latitude  due  west, 
should  be  the  line  of  demarkation,  forming  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  British  territories  and  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  United  States,  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  In 
case  such  a  line  would  not  run  along  the  forty -ninth 
degree,  but  fall  above  or  below  it,  then  the  line  was  to 
be  traced  by  first  drawing  one  from  the  same  point, 
north  or  south  as  the  case  might  be,  until  it  struck 
forty  nine;  from  which  point  of  intersection  the 
western  line  was  to  begin.  Thus  it  was  definitively 
settled. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  the  British  plenipoten 
tiaries  to  connect  with  this  article,  a  clause  secu 
ring  to  Great  Britain  access  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  right  to  its  navigation.  They  made  a 
similar  claim  at  Ghent,  but  withdrew  it ;  and  we 
declared  that  we  could  consent  to  no  clause  of  that 
nature.  Its  omission  having,  in  the  end,  been 
agreed  to,  that  subject  was  also  put  at  rest.  Bri 
tain  under  the  treaty  of  1783,  had  the  right  of 
navigating  the  Mississippi ;  but  it  was  then  the 
western  boundary  of  the  United  States.  Their 
northern  boundary,  by  the  same  treaty,  was  to 
have  been  a  line  running  due  west  from  the  most 

northwestern  point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to 

47 


370  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  Mississippi.  It  was  afterwards  ascertained 
that  a  line  so  drawn,  would  not  strike  the  Missis 
sippi  ;  its  head  waters  not  being  within  British 
limits,  as  at  first  supposed.  Hence,  all  reason  for 
Britain  to  claim  the  right  of  navigating  a  river 
which  touched  no  part  of  her  dominions,  ceased. 
The  United  States  have  claimed,  in  a  subsequent 
negotiation,  the  right  of  navigating  the  St.  Law 
rence,  from  its  sources  to  its  mouth.  The  essen 
tial  difference  in  the  two  cases,  is,  that  the  upper 
waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  flow  through  territory 
belonging  to  both  countries,  and  form  a  natural 
outlet  to  the  ocean  for  the  inhabitants  of  several 
states  of  the  American  Union. 

III.  The  third  article  effected  a  temporary  ar 
rangement  of  claims  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  to  Columbia  river.  I  have  related  what  passed 
relative  to  the  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  this  river, 
in  my  interview  with  Lord  Castlereagh  in  February. 
That  settlement,  called  Astoria,  made  by  Ameri 
cans,  was  broken  up  by  the  British  during  the  war, 
but  fell  back  to  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  on  the  principle  of  status  ante  bellum.  The 
British  plenipotentiaries  manifested  a  strong  desire 
to  connect  this  subject  with  that  of  the  boundary 
line  ;  and  appeared  unwilling,  except  under  such  a 
connexion,  to  agree  to  the  line  in  any  shape.  We 


1 8 1 8 .1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  371 

proposed  its  extension  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  The 
treaty  of  Utrecht  had  fixed  the  forty-ninth  degree 
of  latitude  as  the  line  between  the  possessions  of 
Britain  and  France,  including  Louisiana,  since 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  If  therefore  the 
United  States  and  Britain  arranged  their  claims 
westward,  the  same  line  carried  on  to  the  Pacific, 
seemed  the  natural  one.  We  contended  that,  as 
far  as  prior  discovery  could  give  the  right  to  ter 
ritory,  ours  was  complete  to  the  whole,  on  the 
waters  of  the  Columbia.  It  derived  its  name  from 
the  American  ship  that  first  entered  its  mouth.  It 
was  first  explored  from  its  inland  sources  under 
the  express  authority  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  The  British  traveller,  M'Kensie, 
had  mistaken  another  river  for  a  branch  of  the 
Columbia ;  the  American  travellers,  Lewis  and 
Clarke,  as  was  now  fully  ascertained,  having  been 
the  first  to  trace  the  Columbia  from  the  interior  to 
the  ocean.  Astoria  had,  as  incontestibly,  been 
the  first  permanent  settlement  at  its  mouth. 

The  British  plenipotentiaries  asserted,  that  ear 
lier  voyages  of  English  navigators,  amongst  them 
Cook's,  gave  to  Britain  the  rights  of  prior  discovery 
on  this  coast.  They  alleged  also  that  purchases 
of  territory  had  been  made  by  Britain,  or  her  sub 
jects,  from  the  natives  south  of  this  river,  before 


372  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  American  revolution.  They  made  no  formal 
proposal  of  a  boundary  in  these  regions,  but  inti 
mated  that  the  river  itself  was  the  most  convenient, 
and  said  they  could  agree  to  none  that  did  not 
give  them  the  harbour  at  its  mouth,  in  common 
with  the  United  States.  To  this  we  could  not 
assent,  but  were  willing  to  leave  things  west  of 
the  mountains,  at  large  for  future  settlement.  To 
this  they  objected,  arid  made  in  turn  propositions 
objectionable  in  our  eyes..  Finally  it  was  agreed, 
that  the  country  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
westward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  claimed  by  either 
nation  should  be  open  to  the  inhabitants  of  both,  for 
ten  years,  for  purposes  of  trade ;  with  the  equal 
right  of  navigating  all  its  rivers. 

O  J  O  O 

This  whole  subject  was  discussed  more  fully  by 
both  nations  in  a  separate  negotiation  that  it  fell 
to  my  lot  to  conduct  on  behalf  of  the  United  States, 
in  1824.  Their  rights  on  the  north-west  coast  had 
been  materially  enlarged  by  the  treaty  of  the 
twenty-second  of  February  1819,  with  Spain.  By 
that  treaty  the  Floridas  were  transferred  to  the 
United  States,  and  a  surrender  made  to  them  of 
all  the  rights  of  Spain  on  that  coast,  above  the 
forty-second  degree  of  north  latitude. 

Under  this  branch  of  the  discussion,  might  be 
seen  power  seeking  its  own  augmentation.  How 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  373 

strong  the  case  to  illustrate  this  reflection !  A 
nation  whose  dominions  in  Europe  placed  her  in 
the  front  rank  of  power;  whose  fleets  predomi 
nated  on  the  ocean  ;  who  had  subjects  in  Asia  too 
numerous  to  be  counted  ;  whose  flag  was  planted 
at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  other  posts  in 
Africa ;  who  had  Gibraltar  and  Malta  and  Heligo 
land,  enabling  her  to  wratch  the  Mediterranean  and 
Baltic ;  who  had  an  empire  in  the  West  Indies, 
as  in  the  East;  and,  added  to  all,  vast  continental 
colonies  in  America — this  nation  was  anxiously 
contending  for  territorial  rights  in  deep  forests 
beyond  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  on  shores  which 
the  waters  of  the  northern  Pacific  wash  in  soli 
tude  !  In  the  time  of  Queen  Mary,  when  the 
communication  with  Muscovy  was  first  opened  by 
the  discovery  of  a  passage  to  Archangel,  the  En 
glish  ventured  farther  into  those  countries  than 
any  Europeans  had  ever  done  before.  They  trans 
ported  their  goods  along  the  Dwina,  in  boats  made 
of  one  entire  tree,  which  they  towed  up  the  stream 
to  Walogda ;  thence  they  carried  their  commo 
dities  a  long  journey  over  land,  and  down  the 
Volga  to  Astracan  ;  here  they  built  ships,  crossed 
the  Caspian  sea,  and  introduced  their  manufac 
tures  into  Persia.  So  far  Hume.  It  makes  a 
parallel  passage  in  their  history,  to  see  them  at 


o>74  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  present  day  pressing  forward  to  supply  with 
rifles  and  blankets  savage  hordes  who  roam 
through  the  woods  and  paddle  their  canoes  over 
the  waters  of  this  farthest  and  wildest  portion  of 
the  American  continent. 

I  cannot  leave  this  part  of  the  negotiation  with 
out  remarking,  that  the  important  question  of 
territorial  rights  which  it  involves  between  the 
two  nations,  is  still  an  open  one ;  and  I  do  not 
fear  to  record  the  prediction  that  it  will  be  found 
a  question  full  of  difficulty,  under  whatever  admin 
istration  either  of  Great  Britain  or  of  the  United 
States,  it  may  hereafter  be  approached.  It  is  not 
in  the  genius  of  either  nation  readily  to  yield  what 
it  believes  itself  entitled  to ;  and  however  strong 
our  own  convictions  of  the  just  foundation  of  the 
whole  of  our  claim  on  that  coast  and  its  interior, 
the  convictions  of  Great  Britain  in  the  stable  na 
ture  of  her  right,  that  interferes  so  materially  with 
ours,  is  not  less  decided  and  unequivocal.  Nor 
will  she  push  it  with  less  zeal ;  not  more  on  the 
general  ground  of  her  maritime  and  commercial 
enterprise,  which  are  only  stopped  by  the  limits  of 
the  globe,  than  on  her  special  desire  to  foster  the 
growing  interests  of  her  colonial  settlements  all 
over  this  continent,  and  those  of  the  trading  com 
panies  that  issue  from  them. 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  375 

IV.  The  fourth  article  prolonged  for  ten  years 
the  existing  commercial  convention.  By  its  pro 
visions,  a  reciprocal  liberty  of  commerce  is  establish 
ed  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  domin 
ions  in  Europe.  Importations  and  exportations  into 
or  from  cither  nation,  are  to  be  the  same  as  permitted 
to  other  nations,  and  chargeable  with  no  higher 
duties.  The  vessels  of  each  nation,  pay  equal  ton 
nage  duties  in  each  other's  ports  ;  and  duties  upon 
merchandise  imported  into  or  exported  from  either, 
are  the  same  whether  conveyed  in  vessels  of  the  one 
nation,  or  the  other.  Other  clauses  give  to  vessels 
of  the  United  States  the  right  of  trading  with  the 
principal  British  settlements  in  the  East  Indies  ;  viz. 
Calcutta,  Madras,  Bombay  and  Prince  of  Wales^s 
Island;  but  it  is  only  the  direct  trade  between 
these  settlements  and  the  United  States,  that  is 
opened.  The  vessels  of  the  United  States  pursu 
ing  this  trade,  or  going  to  China,  may  also  touch  for 
refreshment  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  St.  Helena, 
or  other  possessions  of  Great  Britain  in  the  African 
or  Indian  seas.  These  are  the  principal  enact 
ments  of  this  commercial  convention.  It  was 
originally  negotiated  in  the  summer  of  1815,  by 
three  public  men  of  the  United  States,  long  signa 
lized  in  the  home  and  foreign  service,  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Clay,  and  Mr.  Gallatin.  Between  the  time  of 


376  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

its  signature  in  London,  and  exchange  of  ratifica 
tions  at  Washington,  an  event  occurred  to  modify 
one  of  its  provisions — an  event  that  fixed  the 
attention  of  the  world.  It  was  determined  by  the 
allied  powers,  that  Napoleon,  whose  reign  and 
dynasty  closed  at  Waterloo,  should  end  his  days 
at  St.  Helena.  As  a  consequence,  the  ratifications 
were  exchanged,  with  an  exception  of  the  right  of 
touching  there,  the  sentence  against  the  deposed 
emperor  containing  a  clause,  that  neither  British 
nor  any  other  vessels,  should  stop  at  that  island, 
whilst  it  remained  his  prison. 

The  parts  of  this  convention  which  establish  an 
equality  of  duties,  are  liberal  and  wise.  That  the 
interest  of  nations  is  best  promoted  by  discarding 
jealousies,  is  a  truth  which,  in  the  abstract,  none  will 
contest ;  but  they  should  be  discarded  reciprocally 
and  fully,  without  any  of  the  reservations  for  which 
favourite  interests  always  plead.  Whether  such 
reciprocity  will  ever  be  found  compatible  with  the 
separate  existence  of  communities,  and  all  their 
separate  rivalries,  is  the  problem.  The  doctrine 
hitherto,  has  been  known  but  little  in  the  practice 
of  the  world.  The  United  States  did  their  part, 
at  the  commencement  of  their  history,  towards 
giving  it  currency  ;  not  always,  however,  with  the 
success  that  attended  this  convention,  the  provi- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  377 

sions  of  which  seemed  to  serve  as  a  model.  With 
in  short  periods  after  it  went  into  operation,  Den 
mark,  Prussia,  the  Netherlands,  Hanover,  Sweden, 
and  the  Hanseatic  cities  of  Hamburg,  Lubec  and 
Bremen,  formed  treaties  with  Britain,  adopting 
wholly,  or  in  part,  its  regulations.  In  some  of  the 
instances,  I  have  reason  to  know,  that  it  was  spe 
cially  consulted  as  the  guide.  France  too,  always 
slow  to  enter  into  compacts  of  this  nature  with 
Britain,  at  last  consented  to  a  similar  arrange 
ment.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  influence  of 
its  example.  The  United  States  have  long  desired 
to  place  their  intercourse  with  the  colonies  of  Bri 
tain,  on  the  basis  which  this  convention  establishes, 
with  her  dominions  in  Europe ;  but,  as  yet,  ineffec 
tually. 

V.  The  fifth  article  related  to  the  slaves.  I 
stated,  in  the  last  chapter,  the  nature  of  this  ques 
tion.  All  attempts  to  settle  it  by  discussion  proved 
fruitless.  It  was  no  question  of  international  law, 
but  of  sheer  grammar.  In  the  end,  we  came  to  an 
agreement,  which  this  article  embodied,  to  refer  it 
to  the  umpirage  of  a  friendly  sovereign. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  was  chosen.  It  will 
be  proper  to  state  the  issue.  The  case  being  sub 
mitted  to  him  in  full  form,  his  decision  was  : 

That  the  United  States  were  entitled  to  claim  from 

48 


378  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

Great  Britain  a  just  indemnification  for  all  slaves 
that  the  British  forces  had  carried  away  from  places 
and  territories  of  which  the  treaty  stipulated  the  res 
titution  ;  and  that  the  United  States  were  entitled  to 
consider  as  having  been  so  carried  away,  all  slaves 
who  had  been  transported  from  the  above  mentioned 
territories  to  British  ships  within  their  waters,  and 
ivhofor  that  reason  might  not  have  been  restored. 

This  was  the  construction  for  which  the  United 
States  had  contended.  The  emperor  caused  it  to 
be  officially  made  known,  that  he  had  devoted 
"  all  his  attention  to  the  examination  of  the  gramati- 
cal  question"  and  that  his  decision  was  founded 
"  on  the  signification  of  the  words  in  the  text  of 
the  article" 

The  broad  principle  of  right  under  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  was  thus  settled  in  our  favour ;  but  much 
remained  to  be  done.  The  number  of  slaves  car 
ried  away,  their  value,  and  the  rightful  claimants 
in  every  case,  were  to  be  ascertained.  To  effect 
these  objects,  a  convention  was  entered  into  at  St. 
Petersburg!!  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  Russia  lending  her  mediation.  By  this 
instrument,  various  provisions  were  adopted  for 
settling,  through  commissioners  and  other  proper 
tribunals,  the  above  and  all  other  matters  necessary 
to  be  adjudged.  The  tribunals  were  organized  at 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  379 

Washington  and  proceeded  to  the  execution  of 
their  duties.  Difficulties  and  delays  arose  ;  to  get 
rid  of  all  which,  another  convention  was  concluded 
at  London  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  by  which  the  latter  agreed  to  pay  twelve 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  lieu  of  all  further  de 
mands.  This  sum  was  accordingly  paid  into  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States,  thence  to  be  distri 
buted  among  the  claimants ;  Great  Britain  being 
absolved  from  all  further  responsibility.  In  this 
manner  the  dispute  was  finally  and  satisfactorily 
closed. 

VI.  The  sixth  and  last  article  was  merely  one 
of  form,  with  the  usual  stipulations  for  the  exchange 
of  ratifications. 

Looking  at  the  convention  as  a  whole,  it  must 
be  judged  by  the  nature,  rather  than  number,  of 
its  articles.  They  may  be  thus  recapitulated.  1. 
In  settling  the  controversy  about  the  fisheries,  the 
calamity  of  a  war  was  probably  warded  off.  2. 
In  fixing  definitively  the  northern  boundary  line, 
so  long  uncertain,  the  seed  of  future  disputes  was 
extinguished  at  that  point.  3.  In  the  temporary 
arrangement  of  conflicting  claims  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  something  was  gained ;  for 
in  regard  to  those  interests  in  the  remote  west, 
difficult  as  I  believe  they  will  prove  of  future  set- 


380  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

tlement,time  is,  for  the  United  States,  the  best  nego 
tiator.  They  are  not  unaware  how  they  bear  upon 
their  fur  trade — upon  their  fisheries  and  commerce 
in  the  Pacific — upon  their  prospective  relations  with 
new  foreign  states  in  this  hemisphere — and  upon  their 
intercourse  with  numerous  tribes  of  the  aborigines. 
4.  In  the  renewal  for  ten  years  of  the  commercial 
convention,  limited  at  first  to  four,  a  further  and 
more  encouraging  example  was  set  of  liberal  terms 
of  navigation  between  the  two  greatest  navigating 
powers  of  the  world.  It  may  be  hoped  that  it 
will  ripen  into  permanence  as  between  themselves, 
and  continue  to  shed  its  influence  more  and  more 
upon  other  states.  Already  it  has  been  again 
prolonged  for  another  term  of  years.  5.  And, 
lastly,  in  the  article  about  the  slaves,  a  foundation 
was  laid  for  the  indemnification  ultimately  award 
ed  to  the  citizens  of  our  southern  states,  for  the 
heavy  losses  they  had  suffered  in  being  despoiled 
of  this  part  of  their  property. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  38  J 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Subjects  which  the  negotiation  left  unadjusted,  particularly  the 
West  India  trade  and  Impressment. 

HAVING  given  the  subjects  which  the  negotiation 
arranged,  the  task,  scarcely  secondary,  remains, 
to  state  those  that  were  not. 

I.  FIRST  :  THE  WEST  INDIA  TRADE.  Ample  dis 
cussions  wrere  had  under  this  head,  and  it  will  be 
my  endeavour  to  make  them  intelligible,  within  as 
short  a  compass  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will 
allow.  The  general  question  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  as  heretofore  explained  in  the  fourth  chap 
ter,  to  which  some  details  must  now  be  added  ; 
though  these  will  be  pursued  no  further  than  is 
indispensable.  I  arn  aware  of  the  impossibility  of 
presenting  this  part  of  the  negotiation  under  any 
attractive  garb  to  the  general  reader ;  but  I  have 
to  deal  with  it  as  a  duty,  and  must  hope,  that,  as 
a  branch,  and  not  an  unimportant  one,  of  our  re 
lations  with  Great  Britain,  it  will  not  be  wholly 


332  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

overlooked ;  promising  also  -in  its  development, 
all  practicable  condensation,  as  well  as  exemption 
from  official  technicality. 

It  was  a  cardinal  purpose,  under  our  instruc 
tions  that  entire  reciprocity  should  be  the  basis  of 
any  regulations  by  treaty  for  opening  this  trade  ; 
and  accordingly  we  offered  the  following  proposals 
as  essential  to  the  groundwork  of  our  plan : — That 
the  vessels  of  the  United  States  be  permitted  to  import 
into  the  principal  ports  of  the  British  West  Indies, 
which  we  enumerated,  and  into  British  colonial  ports 
on  the  continent  of  South  America,  naval  stores,  live 
stock,  provisions  of  all  kinds,  tobacco,  lumber,  and 
other  productions  of  the  United  States,  the  importa 
tion  of  which  was  allowed  from  other  places.  And 
also  that  they  be  permitted  to  bring  back  cargoes  of 
sugar,  coffee,  molasses,  rum,  salt,  and  other  produc 
tions  of  the  foregoing  ports  or  islands,  the  exporta 
tion  of  which  was  allowed  to  other  places.  The 
vessels  of  Great  Britain  to  be  confined  to  the  same 
articles  of  trade,  so  that  they  might  have  no  advan 
tage  over  those  of  the  United  States ;  the  tonnage 
duties  on  the  vessels  of  each  nation  to  be  the  same  ; 
and  each  to  be  allowed  to  touch  during  the  voyage,  at 
one  or  more  ports  of  the  other,  to  dispose  of  inward 
or  ship  outward  cargoes.  Duties  of  import  and 
export  to  be  the  same  on  all  cargoes,  whether  carried 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  383 

in  American  or  British  vessels,  and  neither  party  to 
charge  higher  duties  upon  the  productions  of  the 
other,  than  were  charged  on  similar  productions  in 
their  trade  with  other  places.  Regarding  the  colo 
nies  of  Britain  in  North  America,  we  proposed,  that 
both  American  and  British  vessels  be  allowed  to  import 
into  them,  from  the  United  States,  the  same  produc 
tions  as  allowed  above,  and  bring  back  any  produc 
tions  of  those  colonies,  admitted  into  the  United  States 
from  other  places  ;  tonnage  duties  upon  the  vessels 
of  each  nation,  to  be  equal  here  also  ;  and  the  duties 
on  all  cargoes  to  be  the  same,  whether  carried  in  the 
vessels  of  the  one  nation  or  the  other. 

The  British  plenipotentiaries  on  receiving  these 
proposals,  declared  them  to  be  inadmissible.  They 
amounted,  they  said,  to  a  much  greater  departure 
from  the  colonial  system  of  Britain,  than  she  was 
prepared  to  sanction.  They  alleged  the  impossi 
bility  of  breaking  down  the  system,  favoured  as  it 
still  was  by  public  opinion,  and  leagued  in  with 
various  interests,  national  and  individual.  The 
trade  of  their  North  American  colonies  in  salted 
fish  and  lumber,  the  export  trade  in  beef,  pork,  and 
flour,  from  Ireland,  the  British  shipping  interest, 
and  the  interest  of  non-resident  West  India  plan 
ters,  were  among  those  to  which  they  referred. 
They  were  willing  to  admit  reciprocity  in  the 


384  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

trade,  (tonnage  it  will  be  born  in  mind  is  not  includ 
ed  under  this  term)  between  the  United  States  and 
West  Indies,  to  a  certain  extent ;  but  our  plan 
opened  it  too  far.  They  were  willing  to  open,  for 
example,  all  the  ports  we  had  enumerated,  (Ber 
muda  being  of  the  number)  except  St.  Christophers, 
St.  Lucia,  Demerara,  Essequibo,  and  Berbice  ;  the 
exception  of  the  three  last,  growing  out  of  their 
engagements  with  Holland.  But  if  they  admitted 
a  specified  number  of  articles  in  the  direct  trade 
with  the  Islands,  they  thought  that  we  ought  to 
consent  to  a  larger  list  in  the  trade  with  Halifax 
and  St.  Johns  on  the  North  American  continent ; 
and  also  with  Bermuda ;  we  ought  not  to  ask  that 
the  trade  be  confined  to  the  same  articles  with 
all  their  possessions,  insular  and  continental.  They 
claimed  also  a  right  for  their  vessels  coming  from 
Great  Britain,  to  touch  at  any  port  of  the  United 
States  and  take  cargoes  for  the  West  Indies ; 
alleging  that  without  this  right,  the  proximity  of 
the  United  States  to  the  Islands  would  give  our 
vessels  an  undue  advantage,  and  they  were  willing 
to  agree  to  a  provision  that  our  vessels  should 
have  the  same  right ;  a  provision,  however,  the 
reciprocity  of  which  would  have  been  only  nomi 
nal.  In  the  end  they  remarked,  that  one  of  our 
proposals  went  the  length,  in  effect,  of  restraining 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  385 

Great  Britain  from  laying  higher  duties  upon 
articles  imported  into  her  Islands  from  the  United 
States,  than  on  similar  articles  coming  from  her 
own  possessions  in  North  America ;  to  which  they 
very  pointedly  objected,  urging  the  natural  right 
of  Great  Britain  to  resort  to  duties  of  this  kind  for 
the  purpose  of  favouring  the  productions,  agricul 
tural  or  otherwise,  of  any  part  of  her  own  do 
minions. 

We  did  not  pretend  to  deny  this  last  principle ; 
but  remarked,  that  truth  in  abstract  propositions, 
did  not  always  bear  enforcement  inter-nationally. 
We  contended  that  the  application  of  this  princi 
ple  to  the  trade  in  question,  would  prove  altogether 
unjust  to  the  United  States.  Britain  made  a  dis 
tinction,  which  of  course  she  had  the  right  to  do, 
in  her  commercial  intercourse  between  her  home 
dominions  and  colonies.  She  even  drew  a  distinc 
tion  in  the  regulations  of  trade  between  her  North 
American  colonies,  and  her  West  India  Islands. 
The  United  States  were  therefore,  in  a  commercial 
view,  obliged  to  consider  each  of  these  portions  of 
her  empire,  as  so  many  distinct  countries.  To 
the  United  States,  they  were  distinct,  as  well  by 
geographical  situation,  and  nature  of  their  pro 
ductions,  as  by  this  policy  of  the  parent  country. 

Nor  was  this  mere  theory.     In  the   business  of 

49 


386  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

trade,  it  worked  tangible  results.  The  United 
States  made  an  offer  to  lay  no  higher  duties  on 
productions  imported  into  their  ports  from  British 
Islands,  than  on  similar  productions  from  other 
foreign  countries.  Britain  met  this  by  apparent, 
but  owing  to  the  division  of  her  dependencies  into 
separate  countries  for  commercial  purposes,  cer 
tainly  not  by  real  justice ;  she  offered  to  lay  no 
higher  duties  on  productions  imported  from  the 
United  States  into  her  Islands,  than  were  charged 
on  similar  ones  from  other  foreign  countries. 
Now,  this  offer  would  be  reciprocal  in  words  only, 
unless  it  went  farther ;  it  ought  to  add,  than  upon 
similar  productions  from  any  other  place,  according 
to  our  proposals.  The  reason  was  obvious ;  the 
British  Islands  were  supplied  with  similar  produc 
tions  from  no  other  foreign  country  than  the 
United  States.  The  only  similar  ones,  in  amount 
deserving  to  be  mentioned,  would  go  from  the 
North  American  colonies  of  Britain  herself.  The 
only  competition  in  the  supply  would  therefore  be, 
between  these  latter  colonies  and  the  United  States; 
whereas,  there  would  be  a  real  foreign  competition 
on  the  productions  imported  into  the  United  States 
from  the  British  Islands ;  similar  ones  being  con 
stantly  imported,  and  in  large  amount,  from  the 
Islands  or  colonies  of  other  foreign  powers. 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  387 

Hence  the  clause  would  be  operative  for  Great 
Britain,  and  only  nominal  for  the  United  States. 
It  was  plain  that  the  former  could  turn  it  to  her 
own  account;  her  vessels  might  come  to  the 
United  States  from  her  Islands,  with  the  produc 
tions  of  the  Islands ;  whilst  the  vessels  of  the 
United  States  would  find  little  encouragement  in 
going  to  the  Islands  with  the  productions  of  the 
United  States,  because  British  productions  of  the 
same  kind  would  get  there  in  British  vessels  from 
Halifax,  St.  Johns,  or  other  British  possessions, 
under  duties  sufficiently  low  to  vanquish  American 
competition.  Such  was  our  answer  to  this  objec 
tion.  At  first  sight,  the  objection  wore  a  fair 
appearance.  It  seemed  unreasonable  to  say  that 
Britain  must  not  be  left  at  liberty  to  foster,  by 
high  duties,  as  she  saw  fit,  the  productions  of  any 
part  of  her  own  dominions.  But  unless  the  United 
States  took  this  ground,  they  could  secure  no  sub 
stantial  reciprocity  to  their  own  vessels  in  carrying 
on  the  trade  to  be  arranged ;  and  this,  plainly  because 
Britain  stamps  upon  her  colonies,  as  regards  the 
interests  of  navigation  and  trade,  the  double  aspect 
described — one  making  them  separate  communi 
ties — the  other  part  and  parcel  of  the  same  empire 
with  the  mother  country — as  it  may  serve  to  be 
nefit  the  latter,  or  bear  hard  on  foreign  nations ; 


388  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

particularly,  from  the  causes  stated,  on  the  United 
States. 

We  alleged  also  the  inexpediency  of  consenting 
to  a  limited  number  of  articles  as  the  objects  of  a 
direct  trade  between  our  ports  and  the  Islands,  and 
allowing  an  indefinite  or  even  larger  list  to  go 
circuitously.  The  effect  of  this  would  in  like 
manner  be,  what  the  United  States  aimed  at  pre 
venting — a  disproportionate  employment  of  British 
tonnage.  The  articles  not  allowed  to  go  to  the 
Islands  directly,  would  be  sent  through  Halifax, 
St.  John's  or  Bermuda.  To  these  ports,  it  is  true, 
they  might  go  in  American  vessels ;  but,  arrived 
there,  they  would  be  transferred  to  British  vessels, 
and  carried  to  the  Islands  exclusively  in  the  latter. 
It  was  a  main  point  with  the  United  States  to 
guard  their  own  shipping  from  this  source  of 
danger. 

It  was  so  that  we  reasoned.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  our  duty  to  pay  a  just  regard  to  the  consider 
ations  which  Great  Britain  had  presented ;  and 
we  expressed  a  desire  to  listen  to  any  specific  pro 
posals  she  would  make.  We  asked  for  a  scale  of 
duties  that  would  exhibit  the  maximum  of  those 
intended  for  the  protection  of  the  agricultural  or 
other  produce  of  her  own  dominions  ;  but  no  such 
document  was  prepared  for  our  consideration.  In 


1818  1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  389 

further  reply  to  the  British  doctrine  about  duties, 
we  naturally  remarked,  that,  if  enforced  against 
the  United  States,  the  latter  ought  undoubtedly  to 
retain  the  option  of  laying  higher  duties  on  the 
productions  of  the  British  Islands,  than  on  those 
of  countries  where  the  productions  of  the  United 
States  were,  or  might  be,  received  on  better  terms 
than  in  the  British  Islands.  We  also  declared 
that  we  could  agree  to  no  proposals  for  regulating 
the  intercourse  with  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Bruns 
wick,  unconnected  with  the  Islands. 

After  these  and  other  particulars  had  been  fully 
canvassed,  it  became  evident  that  the  parties  were 
too  wide  asunder  to  give  hope  of  meeting  on 
ground  that  would  satisfy  both.  The  British 
plenipotentiaries  candidly  expressed  themselves  to 
this  effect ;  but,  as  we  invited  proposals,  they  gave 
them.  Their  proposals  adhered  to  the  principle 
of  protecting  the  productions  of  their  North  Ame 
rica  colonies,  by  levying  higher  duties  on  similar 
productions  from  the  United  States.  They  also 
claimed  the  right  for  British  vessels  sailing  from 
the  European  dominions  of  Britain,  to  touch  at 
ports  of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  tak 
ing  in  cargoes  for  the  West  Indies.  In  other 
respects,  as  these  nominally,  they  admitted  the 
principle  of  reciprocity,  as  far  as  the  trade  was  to 


390  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

be  open.  But  they  restricted  it  in  a  way  to  be 
little  acceptable  to  the  United  States.  Neither 
sugar,  nor  coffee,  was  allowed  to  be  among  the 
direct  exports  to  the  United  States  from  the  Isl 
ands,  although  we  would  have  consented  to  a 
limited  amount  of  each  ;  nor  were  salted  provi 
sions  of  any  kind,  including  fish,  nor  lumber,  gene 
rally,  for  under  the  last  head  there  were  slight 
exceptions,  to  be  allowed  among  the  imports  into 
the  Islands,  from  the  United  States.  Yet  it  was 
proposed  that  not  only  sugar  and  coffee,  but  all 
articles  of  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  any  of  the 
British  dominions,  and  even  East  India  articles, 
should  be  admitted  into  the  United  States  through 
the  circuitous  channels  of  Bermuda,  Halifax  and 
St.  Johns.  It  was  also  asked,  that,  in  the  whole 
trade,  Britain,  by  all  the  regulations  of  the  United 
States,  should  stand  upon  as  good  a  footing  in  their 
ports,  as  any  other  foreign  nation.  Such  were  the 
main  features  of  their  proposals. 

Britain  would  agree  to  no  arrangement  of  the 
intercourse  by  land,  or  inland  navigation,  with  her 
American  continental  possessions  bordering  on 
the  United  States,  different  from  the  one  rejected 
with  the  four  articles  submitted  by  Lord  Castle- 
reagh.  Nor  would  she  let  us  take  our  produce 


]  8 18/1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  391 

down  the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  Montreal,  or 
down  the  Chambly  as  far  as  the  St.  Lawrence. 

On  referring  her  proposals  to  our  government, 
with  all  the  views  elicited  from  her  plenipotentia 
ries,  they  were  unequivocally  rejected.  In  pro 
gress  of  time,  renewed  negotiations  were  held 
between  the  two  governments,  some  whilst  I 
remained  at  the  British  court,  some  afterwards. 
Each  government  gave  up  some  of  the  ground 
taken  in  this  negotiation ;  but  no  arrangement,  by 
treaty,  has  ever  yet  been  made  upon  the  subject. 
The  trade  stands  upon  regulations  adopted  by  the 
statutes  of  each  nation,  which  each  is  at  liberty  to 
modify  or  recall.  Until  opened  by  these  regula 
tions,  the  prohibitory  laws  of  the  Union  would  not 
allow  supplies  from  the  British  Islands  to  come 
directly  to  the  United  States,  or  to  go  directly 
from  the  United  States  to  the  Islands,  in  the  vessels 
of  either  power.  The  reason  was,  that  as  Britain 
would  not  allow  them  to  come  and  go  in  this 
manner,  on  terms  that  the  United  States  deemed 
of  equal  advantage  to  their  vessels,  they  preferred 
that  the  direct  intercourse  should  cease  altogether. 
It  is  obvious,  that  the  dispute  was  about  tonnage, 
rather  than  the  productions  or  merchandize  of 
either  party.  These  were  still  permitted  to  be 


392  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

consumed  in  the  territories  of  each ;  but  it  was 
necessary  to  import  them  in  round-about  ways. 

On  a  Spanish  ambassador  once  representing  to 
Cromwell  that  the  Inquisition  and  colonial  trade, 
were  his  master's  two  eyes,  Cromwell  replied, 
"  Then  I  must  trouble  your  master  to  put  out  his  two 
eyes"  We  cannot  address  England  in  such  lan 
guage,  although  England  did  Spain ;  but  we  may 
at  least  remark,  that  as  far  as  she  enforces  her 
colonial  system  in  her  intercourse  with  other  na 
tions,  the  latter  will,  so  far,  lose  the  benefit  of  equal 
competition.  The  United  States  cannot,  it  is  true, 
complain  that  she  violates  any  of  their  rights  in 
allowing  the  vessels  of  her  own  subjects  in  her 
North  American  colonies,  to  trade  with  her  Isl 
ands  on  better  terms,  than  the  vessels  of  the  United 
States  ;  but,  to  whatever  extent  she  does  so,  it  is 
manifest  that,  to  the  same  extent,  American  ton 
nage  must  labour  under  intrinsic  disadvantages, 
and  the  British  be  likely  to  shoot  ahead  of  it ; 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  competition  at  present. 

II.  I  come,  secondly,  to  IMPRESSMENT.  Faithful 
as  were  our  labours  on  this  subject,  disappointment 
was  their  portion.  A  recapitulation  of  the  causes, 
has  high  claims  to  the  attention  of  both  nations, 
and  I  would  even  hope  to  that  of  readers  of  all 
classes  in  both. 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  393 

It  may  be  remembered,  that  I  delivered  to  Lord 
Castlereagh  two  propositions,  which,  taken  to 
gether,  embodied  an  offer  by  the  United  States  to 
exclude,  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  British 
seamen,  native  born  as  well  as  naturalized,  from 
their  service.  As  an  equivalent,  they  demanded 
that  impressment  from  their  vessels  should  be 
totally  relinquished.  The  stipulation  for  excluding 
seamen,  was  to  be  reciprocal.  The  United  States 
agreeing  not  to  employ  British  seamen,  it  was  no 
more  than  just  that  Britain  should  agree  not  to 
employ  American  seamen.  The  exclusion  was  to 
extend  to  the  public  and  private  marine  of  both 
nations. 

It  cannot  escape  remark,  that  the  United  States, 
by  such  an  offer,  overlooked  the  estimate  of  pecu 
niary  advantage  to  their  merchants,  for  the  pros 
pect  of  durable  harmony  with  Great  Britain.  Wa 
ges  were  higher  in  their  merchant  service,  than  in 
the  British.  To  exclude  British  seamen  from  it, 
would  have  been  likely  to  raise  them  still  higher. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  stipulation  of  Britain  not  to 
impress  our  seamen,  would  have  been  remote  in 
its  practical  operation.  It  was  necessarily  contin 
gent  upon  the  event  of  a  maritime  war  with  other 
powers,  as  she  does  not  impress  from  American 

vessels  in  time  of  peace.     Hence,  the  onerous  part 

50 


394  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  the  engagement  would  have  been  to  us  imme 
diate  ;  the  benefit  distant. 

Our  offer  to  exclude  all  natural  born  British 
subjects  from  our  service,  it  will  also  be  remem 
bered,  was  at  first  rejected ;  but  it  was  afterwards 
agreed  that  it  should  be  considered.  Two  condi 
tions  were  annexed  to  it  by  Lord  Castlereagh. 
One,  that  any  treaty  containing  the  mutual  stipu 
lations,  should  be  revocable  on  short  notice  by 
either  party.  This  would  serve,  he  thought,  to 
tranquilize  those  persons  in  England  who  would 
otherwise  be  disposed  to  think  the  arrangement 
derogatory  to  the  rights  of  England ;  whilst  the 
treaty,  as  he  hoped,  would  be  gradually  sliding 
into  permanence.  The  other  condition  was,  that 
the  British  boarding  officer  entering  American 
vessels  at  sea  for  purposes  agreed  to  be  lawful  in 
time  of  war,  and  finding  British  seamen,  or  men 
suspected  to  be  such,  should  be  allowed  to  make 
a  proces  verbal  of  the  fact,  to  be  presented  to  the 
notice  of  the  American  government ;  but  the  offi 
cer  to  be  prohibited  taking  away  the  men. 

This  latter  condition  seemed  to  imply  distrust 
of  America.  It  breathed  suspicion,  that  the  regu 
lations  for  excluding  British  seamen  would  not  be 
fully  executed.  If  objectionable  on  this  ground,  it 
was  more  so  on  others.  It  did  not  ask  in  terms, 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  395 

that  the  boarding  officer  calling  for  a  list  of  the 
crew,  should  have  the  power  of  mustering 
them ;  but  the  mere  view  of  the  paper  would 
be  useless  without  that  power.  The  men  must 
have  been  inspected  for  the  purpose  of  compari 
son  with  the  list.  Such  inspections  had  been  found 
among  the  most  insupportable  aggravations  of  im 
pressment.  Their  tendency,  in  every  instance, 
was  to  produce  altercation  between  the  foreign 
officer  and  the  master  of  the  American  vessel.  If 
the  officer  made  a  record  of  his  suspicions,  the 
master,  and  seaman,  must  have  the  privilege  of 
making  a  counter  record.  Where  then  would  be 
the  end,  or  what  the  good,  of  these  tribunals  of 
the  deck  ?  We  did  not  desire  the  first  condition, 
but  were  willing  for  the  sake  of  settling  the  ques 
tions  to  come  into  it.  To  the  second,  we  declar 
ed  our  utter  repugnance  and  unequivocal  dissent. 
It  will  be  further  remembered,  that  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  withdrew  the  second ;  which  brings  me  to 
the  footing  on  which  the  subject  was  taken  up  in 
the  negotiation. 

Repeated  advances  having  been  made  by  the 
United  States,  the  understanding  was,  that  Britain 
should  now  bring  the  subject  forward  in  a  shape 
matured  for  discussion.  The  leading  principles 
seemed  to  have  been  settled.  It  remained,  as  we 


396  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

thought,  only  to  settle  details.  At  the  third  con 
ference,  the  British  Plenipotentiaries  submitted  a 
projet  of  six  articles  designed  for  the  regulation 
by  a  separate  treaty,  of  the  whole  subject.  I  have 
abstained  almost  wholly  from  presenting  at  large 
the  documents  of  the  negotiation,  susposing  that  I 
could  cause  their  essential  matter  to  be  sufficiently 
understood  by  description.  But  the  gravity  and 
interest  of  this  question,  renders  it  proper  to  set 
forth  the  British  projet  in  its  precise  terms;  a 
course  the  more  proper,  as  I  inserted  in  the  same 
way  the  American  propositions.  It  here  follows  : 
"  His  Majesty,  the  king  of  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  being  animated  with 
an  equal  desire  to  remove  by  amicable  regulations 
the  inconveniences  which  have  arisen  from  the 
difficulty  of  discriminating  between  the  subjects 
and  citizens  of  the  two  powers  respectively,  have 
determined  to  proceed,  without  prejudice  to  the 
rights  of  either  power,  to  frame  such  conventional 
arrangements  as  may  obviate  the  evils  which 
might  hereafter  again  result  from  the  circum 
stances  above  stated,  to  the  public  service,  the 
commerce,  or  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  either  of 
the  high  contracting  parties.  In  pursuance  of  so 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  397 

desirable  an  object,  his  said  Majesty  and  the  Pre 
sident  of  the  United  States  have  nominated  pleni 
potentiaries  to  discuss  and  sign  a  treaty  to  this 
effect.  His  Majesty  the  king  of  the  United  King 
dom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  has  nominated 
the  Right  Honourable  Frederick  John  Robinson, 
and  Henry  Goulburn,  Esquire,  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States  has  nominated  Albert  Gallatin 
and  Richard  Rush,  Esquires,  who,  having  exchang 
ed  their  full  powers,  found  in  good  and  true  form, 
have  agreed  upon  the  following  articles. 

1.  "  The  high  contracting  parties  engage  and 
bind  themselves  to  adopt  without  delay,  and  in  the 
manner    that    may   best    correspond   with   their 
respective  laws,  such  measures  as  may  be  most 
effectual  for  excluding  the  natural  born  subjects 
and  citizens  of  either  party  from  serving  in  the 
public  or  private  marine  of  the  other :  Provided 
always,  that  nothing  contained  in  this  article  shall 
be  understood  to  apply  to  such  natural  born  sub 
jects  or  citizens  of  either  power  as  may  have  been 
naturalized  by  their  respective  laws,  previous  to 
the  signature  of  the  present  treaty.     And  such 
measures,  when    adopted,   shall    be    immediately 
communicated  to  each  party  respectively. 

2.  "  For  the  better  ascertaining  the  number  of 
persons  on  either  side  that  may  fall  within  the 


398  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

exception  contained  in  the  preceding  article,  the 
high  contracting  parties  engage  to  deliver,  each  to 
the  other,  within  twelve  months  from  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  present  treaty,  a  list  of  all  persons  fall 
ing  within  the  said  exception,  specifying  the  places 
of  their  birth,  with  the  date  of  their  becoming 
naturalized.  And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  none 
other  than  the  persons  whose  names  shall  be  in 
cluded  in  the  lists,  shall  be  deemed  to  fall  within 
the  said  exception. 

3.  "The  high  contracting  parties  however  reserve 
to  themselves  the  power  to  authorize  and  permit 
by  proclamation,  their  respective  subjects  or  citi 
zens,  to  serve  in  the  public  or  private  marine  of  the 
other  country.  And  it  is  hereby  expressly  under 
stood,  that,  as  long  as  such  permission  shall  remain 
in  force,  it  shall  be  competent  for  the  government 
of  the  other  power,  notwithstanding  the  engage 
ment  set  forth  in  the  first  article  of  this  treaty,  to 
admit  the  performance  of  the  said  service.  Pro 
vided  always,  That  whenever  the  power  so  granting 
permission  to  the  said  subjects  or  citizens  to  serve 
in  the  marine  of  the  other,  shall  withdraw  the 
same,  notification  thereof  shall  forthwith  be  made 
to  the  other  contracting  party,  and,  on  receipt  of 
such  notification,  the  power  receiving  the  same 
shall,  forthwith,  notify  it  in  the  most  public  and 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  399 

official  manner,  and  shall  use  its  utmost  endeavours 
to  restrain  the  said  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  other 
party  from  further  serving  in  its  public  or  private 
marine,  and  shall  enforce  the  exclusion  of  such 
of  the  said  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  other  power 
as  may  then  be  in  its  service,  as  if  no  such  permis 
sion  had  been  promulgated. 

4.  "  In  consideration  of  the  stipulations  con 
tained  in  the  preceding  articles,  it  is  agreed  by  the 
high  contracting  parties  that,  during  the  contin 
uance  of  the  present  treaty,  neither  power  shall 
impress  or  forcibly  withdraw,  or  cause  to  be  im 
pressed  or  forcibly  withdrawn,  any  person  or  per 
sons  from  the  vessels  of  the  other  power  when 
met  upon  the  high  seas,  on  any  plea  or  pretext 
whatsoever.     Provided  always.  That  nothing  con 
tained  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  to  apply  to 
the  vessels  of  either  power  which  may  be  within 
the  ports,  or  within  the  maritime  jurisdiction  of 
the  other,  and  also  provided,  that  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  impair  or  affect 
the  established  right  of  search  as  authorized  in 
time  of  war  by  the  law  of  nations. 

5,  "  The  high  contracting  parties  have  agreed 
to  extend  the  duration  of  the  present  treaty  to  ten 
years,  and  they  reserve  to  themselves  to  concert, 
as  to  its  renewal,  at  such  convenient  period,  previ- 


400  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

ous  to  its  expiration,  as  may  ensure  to  their  re 
spective  subjects  and  citizens,  the  uninterrupted 
benefit  which  they  expect  from  its  provisions : 
Provided  always,  that  either  power  may,  if  it  deem 
it  expedient,  upon  giving  six  months  previous 
notice  to  the  other,  wholly  abrogate  and  annul  the 
present  treaty. 

6.  "  It  is  agreed  that  nothing  contained  in  the 
preceding  articles  shall  be  understood  to  affect  the 
rights  and  principles  on  which  the  high  contracting 
parties  have  heretofore  acted,  in  respect  to  any 
of  the  matters  to  which  these  stipulations  refer, 
except  so  far  as  the  same  shall  have  been  modified, 
restrained,  or  suspended,  by  the  said  articles. 
And,  whenever  the  present  treaty  shall  cease  to 
be  in  operation,  either  by  the  expiration  of  the 
term  for  which  it  is  enacted,  without  any  renewal 
of  the  same,  or  by  the  abrogation  thereof  by  either 
of  the  high  contracting  parties,  as  hereinbefore 
provided,  or,  (which  God  forbid)  by  any  war  be 
tween  them,  each  of  the  said  high  contracting  par 
ties  shall  stand,  with  respect  to  the  other,  as  to  its 
said  rights  and  principles,  as  if  no  such  treaty  had 
ever  been  made." 

In  submitting  these  articles,  the  British  pleni 
potentiaries  expressed  upon  the  protocol  their 
conviction,  that,  under  all  the  difficulties  that  sur- 


1818  "I          COURT  OF  LONDON.  401 

rounded  the  question,  they  would  be  sufficient  to 
satisfy  us  of  the  earnest  disposition  of  Great 
Britain  to  go  every  practicable  length  in  a  joint 
effort  for  their  removal,  so  as  to  connect  the  two 
countries  in  the  firmest  ties  of  harmony.  It  was 
with  this  solemnity  that  the  subject  was  presented 
to  our  consideration. 

It  received  from  us  a  deliberate  and  anxious 
attention.  We  brought  to  the  task  an  unaffected 
desire  to  smooth  down  every  obstacle.  It  was  not 
to  be  supposed  that  a  subject  that  had  divided  the 
two  nations  for  five  and  twenty  years,  and  been 
the  principal  cause  of  a  war,  could  be  definitively 
arranged  by  the  first  projet  of  a  treaty  drawn  up 
by  one  of  the  parties.  But  we  hailed  the  entire 
plan  as  the  harbinger  of  adjustment,  believing  that 
we  saw  in  its  spirit  and  outline  the  sure  hope  of 
success.  Taking  an  interval  for  advisement  we 
said,  that  the  proposals  heretofore  made  by  the 
United  States  could  leave  no  doubt  of  their  con 
stant  desire  to  settle  this  question,  and  declared 
our  readiness  to  agree,  with  some  amendments, 
to  the  plan  submitted.  We  added  our  full  expec 
tation  that,  founded  as  it  was  in  mutual  confidence, 
it  could  not  fail  to  have  a  happy  effect  towards 
rendering  durable  the  relations  of  amity  so  happily 

subsisting   between   the   two    countries.      These 

51 


402  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

sentiments  we,  too,  recorded  with  like  solemnity 
on  the  protocol. 

Several  of  our  amendments  were  only  verbal. 
We  did  not  think  that  the  recital  in  the  preamble 
met  the  whole  case  on  both  sides,  and  offered 
alterations,  some  of  which  were  approved.  To 
the  clause  under  which  there  might  have  been  a 
claim  to  continue  impressment  in  the  narrow  seas, 
we  objected,  and  it  was,  in  effect,  withdrawn.  Nor 
did  we  like  the  particular  mode,  or  place,  in  which 
Britain  reserved  the  right  of  search  at  the  close  of 
the  fourth  article.  We  suggested,  in  lieu  of  it, 
that  the  words  should  go  to  a  different  article,  and 
provide  that  neither  party  should  be  affected  by 
the  treaty  "  in  any  of  their  belligerent  or  neutral 
rights  as  acknowledged  by  the  law  of  nations,  except 
so  far  as  modified,  restricted,  or  suspended  by  the 
treaty"  It  becomes  unnecessary  however  to  dwell 
on  these  and  other  points  as  to  which  the  parties 
did  not  agree  at  first,  since  they  might  have  agreed 
ultimately,  had  it  not  been  for  two  that  proved 
fatal  to  the  plan.  To  the  explanation  of  these  I 
therefore  confine  myself. 

The  second  article,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the 
persons  who  were  to  be  excepted  from  those  in 
tended  to  be  excluded  from  the  sea  service  of 
cither  nation,  provides,  that  each  shall  furnish  the 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  493 

other  with  a  list  of  their  names.  This  list  was  to 
specify  the  place  of  their  birth,  and  dates  of  their 
naturalization ;  and  none  but  persons  whose  names 
were  upon  it,  were  to  fall  within  the  exception.  To 
this  provision  we  were  obliged  to  object,  our  laws 
not  enabling  us  to  meet  all  that  it  required.  As  a 
substitute  we  proposed  that  "  no  natural  born  sub 
ject  or  citizen  of  either  power  ivhose  name  should  not 
be  included  in  the  list,  should  be  deemed  to  fall  with 
in  the  exception,  UNLESS  HE  PRODUCED  PROOF  OF  HIS 

HAVING  BEEN    DULY  NATURALIZED    PRIOR  TO    THE  EX 
CHANGE  OF  RATIFICATIONS  OF  THE  TREATY." 

Reasons  must  be  given  why  the  United  States 
could  not  comply  with  the  British  article  as  it 
stood.  Anterior  to  1789,  aliens  were  naturalized 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  several  states  com 
posing  the  Union.  Under  this  system,  the  forms 
varied  and  were  often  very  loose.  The  latter  was 
especially  the  case  when  they  were  drawn  up  by 
justices  of  the  peace,  as  sometimes  happened. 
Since  that  epoch,  the  forms  have  been  uniform, 
and  are  only  permitted  before  such  courts  of  re 
cord  as  are  designated  by  the  la\vs  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  designation  includes  not  only 
courts  of  the  United  States,  properly  so  called, 
but  courts  of  the  several  states.  Minor  children 
also  of  naturalized  persons,  if  the  former  be  within 


404  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

the  limits  of  the  Union,  become,  ipso  facto,  natural 
ized.     It  must  be  added,  that,  for  several  years 
no  discrimination  as  to  the  birth  place  of  aliens 
was  recorded.     If  attempts  were  made  to  procure 
the  lists  required,  a  first  objection  might  have  been 
that  the  courts  of  the  several  states  were  not  bound 
to  obey,  in  this  respect,  a  call  from  the  general 
government.     But  granting  that  all  obeyed,  the 
lists  would  have  exhibited  nothing  more  than  the 
names  of  British  natural  born  subjects,  naturalized 
during   a  period   of  nearly  thirty  years.     They 
would  not  designate  seamen,  the  law  not  having 
required  a  record  of  the  occupation ;  nor  would 
they  embrace  minor  children,  their  names   never 
having  been  directed  to  be  registered.     There  was 
but  one  other  source  from  which  lists  could  have 
been  derived,  and  here  only  partially.     By  a  law 
of  1796,  collectors  of  customs  were  required  to 
keep  books  in  which  the  names  of  seamen,  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  were,  on  their  own  applica 
tion,  to  be  entered.     Under  this  law,  as  may  be 
inferred  from  its  terms,  the  entry  of  names  was 
not  full ;  nor  did  the  law  draw  a  distinction  be 
tween  native  citizens  and  citizens  by  naturalization. 
From  this  summary  it  is  manifest,  that  a  com 
pliance  with  the  British  article  would  have  been 
impracticable.     The  unavoidable  consequence  of 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  405 

consenting  to  it  would  have  been,  that  aliens  na 
turalized  before  the  treaty,  and  entitled  by  our 
laws  to  all  the  rights  of  citizens,  would,  by  an 
ex  post  facto  and  therefore  unconstitutional  mea 
sure,  have  found  themselves  excluded  from  follow 
ing  the  seas  as  an  occupation. 

All  these  obstacles  we  presented  to  the  British 
plenipotentiaries  ;  and  they  were  plainly  such  as 
we  could  not  remove,  whatever  our  desire.  But 
we  urged,  that  the  condition  required,  appeared 
unnecessary.  By  the  substitute  we  proposed, 
every  native  born  subject  of  Britain  claiming  the 
right  of  serving  in  our  vessels,  and  not  being  able 
to  show  his  name  upon  the  lists,  would  have  to 
adduce  other  proof  of  his  naturalization.  This 
other  proof  must  have  been,  either  the  original 
certificate  of  naturalization,  or  an  authentic  copy. 
It  could  have  been  on  no  better  proof,  that  any 
names  would  have  been  returned  in  the  lists.  If 
minors  claimed  the  benefit  of  the  exception,  legal 
proof  must  have  been  given  of  their  identity ;  to 
which  must  have  been  subjoined,  proof  of  the 
naturalization  of  their  fathers.  We  urged  also 
the  right  reserved  to  either  party  of  annulling  the 
treaty  at  will,  as  affording  a  sufficient  security. 
It  was  a  reservation,  not  of  our  choice,  but  acqui 
esced  in,  to  avoid  objection,  and  supersede  the 


406  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ("1818. 

necessity  of  details  too  complicated.  It  gave  Bri 
tain  a  remedy  in  her  own  hands  against  deviations 
from  the  true  spirit  of  the  compact,  whenever  she 
believed  any  were  committed. 

But  we  could  not  prevail  upon  the  British  pleni 
potentiaries  to  recede  from  their  ground.  They 
appeared  to  have  taken  up  an  impression  which 
we  were  unable  to  expel,  that  great  numbers  of 
their  seamen  intended  by  the  treaty  to  be  excluded, 
would,  but  for  the  condition  annexed,  find  their 
way  into  our  service. 

An  error  insensibly  prevailing  in  Britain,  seems 
to  lie  at  the  root  of  the  whole  evil.  It  consists  in 
supposing  that  the  United  States  cannot  obtain 
seamen  of  their  own,  but  must  depend  upon  Britain 
for  them.  Why,  any  more  than  on  Britons  to  till 
their  farms,  or  build  their  houses,  seems  strange  ! 
I  will  give  an  instance  of  this  error.  When  the 
Franklin  anchored  off  Cowes,  visiters  came  on 
board  in  great  numbers.  The  ship's  decks  were 
of  course  filled  with  her  seamen ;  who,  to  be  sure, 
looked  like  English  seamen,  and  spoke  the  same 
language.  Soon  the  rumour  went  that  many. were 
English.  All  rumours  grow ;  and  so  this.  In  a 
fortnight,  I  read  in  the  London  prints,  that  more 
than  one-third  of  the  wlwle  were  native  born  British 
subjects  !  The  news  passed  from  journal  to  jour- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  407 

nal,  fixing  itself,  no  doubt,  as  a  positive  fact  in  the 
belief  of  many  an  honest  Englishman,  who  would 
have  been  ready  on  its  authority  to  utter  indignant 
complaints  against  America,  for  thus  drawing 
away  his  majesty's  seamen !  The  commentary 
upon  the  supposed  fact  is,  that  Commodore  Stew 
art  informed  me,  that  out  of  his  crew,  of  upwards 
of  seven  hundred  men,  twenty-five  would  include 
all  of  foreign  birth.  Of  these,  half  were  from  parts 
of  Europe,  other  than  Britain.  I  would  not  fall 
into  the  indecorum  of  supposing,  that  errors  so 
gross  as  this,  could  ever  be  committed  by  persons 
having  better  opportunities,  above  all,  official  op 
portunities,  of  information ;  but  it  points  to  the 
popular  misconception.  I  fully  believe,  and  this 
not  as  an  unexamined  opinion,  that  the  proportion 
of  native  American  seamen  on  board  American 
ships  of  war,  will  always  be  found  greater  than  of 
native  British  seamen  on  board  British  ships  of 
war.  The  relative  size  of  the  two  navies  consi 
dered,  it  is  indeed,  demonstrable,  that  the  United 
States  are  better  able  to  man  theirs  with  native 
American,  than  the  British  theirs  with  native 
British. 

The  other  part  of  the  projet  that  produced  fatal 
diversity,  was  in  the  first  article.  It  ran  thus : 
"provided  always,  that  nothing  contained  in  this 


408  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

article  shall  be  understood  to  apply  to  such  natural 
born  subjects  or  citizens  of  either  power,  as  may  have 
been  naturalized  by  their  respective  laws  previous  to 
the  SIGNATURE  of  the  present  treaty"  In  place  of 

SIGNATURE,  WC  proposed  "  EXCHANGE  OF  RATIFICA 
TIONS."  To  the  former,  we  could  not  consent. 
It  would  have  brought  with  it  the  same  conse 
quence — that  of  violating  our  Constitution.  The 
obligations  of  a  treaty  are  not  complete,  until  ex 
change  of  ratifications.  To  exclude  from  our  ser 
vice,  subjects  naturalized  prior  to  that  date,  would 
have  involved  the  objection  of  ex  post  facto.  The 
British  plenipotentiaries  would  not  agree  to  drop 
their  word.  Here  too  was  manifested  what,  to 
us,  seemed  needless  apprehension.  As  by  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  a  residence  of  five  years  is  one 
of  the  pre-requisites  to  naturalization,  the  number 
of  British  seamen  who  could  have  come  in  between 
the  two  dates,  must  have  been  extremely  small ; 
not  worth  consideration,  as  we  supposed,  in  a 
national  point  of  view.  But  we  could  not  succeed 
in  making  the  British  plenipotentiaries  think  so. 
The  subject  was  debated  until  the  closing  hours  of 
the  negotiation,  and  then  fell  to  the  ground.  It 
put  the  seal  to  the  failure  of  our  efforts.  We  had 
offered  all  that  was  possible  under  our  Constitu 
tion  and  laws.  We  could  go  no  farther. 


1 8 1 8.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  409 

I  pause,  for  a  moment,  on  this  authentic  narra 
tive.  I  look  back,  with  unfeigned  regret,  on  the 
failure  it  records.  Perhaps  I  may  be  wrong,  for  I 
speak  from  no  authority ;  but  I  am  not  able  to 
divest  myself  of  an  impression,  that,  had  Lord 
Castlereagh  been  in  London,  there  would  not  have 
been  a  failure.  I  am  aware  that  he  was  kept  in 
formed  of  the  progress  of  the  negotiation  ;  we  had 
reason  to  believe  that  the  documents  were  regu 
larly  sent  to  Aix  la  Chapelle  for  his  inspection ; 
still,  he  could  not  share  in  the  full  spirit  of  all  that 
passed.  He  had  the  whole  European  relations  of 
Britain  at  that  time  in  his  hands,  with  those  of  the 
continent  also  to  discuss.  Impressment,  although 
in  truth  a  primary  concern,  could  not,  at  such  a 
season,  have  commanded  all  his  thoughts.  But  I 
know  how  anxiously  he  entered  into  it,  before  his 
departure.  He  saw  that  the  great  principle  of  ad 
justment,  had  at  last  been  settled ;  and  I  can 
scarcely  think  that  he  would  have  allowed  it  to  be 
foiled,  by  carrying  too  much  rigour  into  details.  It 
is  no  part  of  my  present  purpose  to  draw  the  full 
character  of  Lord  Castlereagh  in  his  connexion 
with  England,  or  Europe ;  but  there  was  this  in 
him,  which  his  opponents  did  not  deny,  and  history 
will  award — an  entire,  I  will  add,  a  noble  fearless 
ness.  He  knew  that  a  treaty  relinquishing  im- 

52 


410  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  ["1818 

pressment,  no  matter  what  the  terms,  would  ex 
cite  clamour  in  England,  come  when  it  would ;  but 
having  made  up  his  mind  to  the  justice  and  policy 
of  such  a  treaty,  he  would  have  faced  the  clamour. 
I  believe  that  he  set  a  high  value  upon  a  good  un 
derstanding  with  the  United  States ;  and  that  he 
was  sincerely  anxious,  not  in  words  only,  but  by 
deeds,  to  promote  it.  I  never  saw  any  little 
jealousy  in  him  of  their  rising  power  and  greatness, 
although  awake  to  both ;  for  he  saw  in  Britain 
enough  of  both,  to  place  him  above  little  jealousies ; 
and  if  I  have  not  assumed  too  much  in  my  con 
jectures  as  to  his  feelings  on  this  subject  of  im 
pressment,  who  will  say  that  his  wisdom  and 
patriotism  would  not  have  been  signally  manifest 
ed?  Seamen,  as  a  race,  are  short-lived.  The 
constant  hardships  to  which  they  are  exposed, 
soon  wear  down  those  whom  the  tempest  and  all 
other  perils  spare  ;  and  had  the  arrangement  been 
perfected,  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  would  have 
swept  away  the  whole  stock  of  naturalized  British 
seamen  in  the  United  States ;  whilst  the  treaty 
abolishing  impressment  from  American  ships, 
would  have,  remained  a  durable  monument  of  the 
statesmanship  of  the  British  minister  under  whose 
auspices  it  would  have  been  concluded. 

This  subject  falling  through,  others  of  a  mari- 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON. 

time  nature  were  withdrawn.  It  had  been  agreed 
that  none  were  to  be  proceeded  with,  if  we  failed 
on  impressment.  We  had  offered  articles  on 
blockade ;  contraband  ;  trading  with  the  colonies  of 
a  belligerent ;  for  the  regulation  of  proceedings  in 
prize  cases,  and  the  conduct  of  privateers  and  let 
ters  of  marque.  Britain  had  joined  in  offers  on  most 
of  them — omitting  however  the  third.  Their  dis 
cussion  was  carried  on  to  some  extent,  but  given 
over  when  discovered  that  we  could  not  arrange 
the  point  on  which  all  depended. 

A  few  words  more.  The  failure  to  accommo 
date  this  formidable  source  of  strife  between  the 
two  nations,  is  only  postponed,  not  defeated.  If 
removed  in  no  other  way,  it  will  cease,  ultimately, 
through  the  cessation  of  the  practice  as  a  home 
measure  in  England.  It  cannot  endure  much 
longer ;  it  is  impossible.  Englishmen  will  get 
their  minds  open  to  its  true  nature.  It  is  the 
remark  of  a  sagacious  historian  of  their  own,  that 
nations  long  after  their  ideas  begin  to  enlarge  and 
their  manners  to  refine,  adhere  to  systems  of  su 
perstition  founded  on  the  crude  conceptions  of 
early  years.  It  is  the  same  with  public  abuses. 
The  English  part,  reluctantly,  with  those  sanctioned 
by  time ;  but  at  length,  public  scrutiny  and  the 
moral  sense  of  the  nation,  fasten  upon  them ;  as 


412  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

in  the  case,  for  example,  of  the  slave  trade.  Rea 
son  emerges,  as  from  a  cloud  ;  the  abuses  fall,  and 
loud  reprobation  succeeds  to  the  long  tolerance 
that  kept  them  up.  Indications  are  not  wanting 
of  this  coming  change  as  to  impressment.  I  could 
refer  to  some,  derived  from  private  intercourse  of 
a  high  kind ;  but  for  this,  I  should  have  no  war 
rant,  and  will  take  other  and  public  demonstrations. 
Perhaps  no  association  of  men  in  that  kingdom  are 
more  likely  to  form  sound  opinions  on  this  sub 
ject,  than  the  ship  owners  of  London.  This  body, 
at  a  meeting  in  September  1818,  and  what  Briton 
will  not  hear  the  fact  with  pleasure,  deliberately 
condemned  the  practice.  The  report  of  their  com 
mittee,  dwells  upon  it  as  every  way  inexpedient, 
(apart  from  other  objections,)  and  suggests  mea 
sures  for  its  total  abolition. 

There  is  something,  if  possible,  more  strong. 
Sir  Murray  Maxwell,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the 
British  navy,  when  a  candidate  to  represent  the 
great  commercial  interests  of  Westminster  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  as  I  have  mentioned  on 
a  preceding  page,  made  an  appeal  upon  the 
same  subject,  too  remarkable  to  be  forgotten. 
Addressing  himself  to  assembled  thousands  round 
the  hustings,  he  said,  that  if  his  opponent  could 
show  that  he  had  been  "  for  fifteen  years  engaged 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  413 

in  promoting  a  political  scheme  of  such  national 
importance  as  the  one  that  he  (Sir  Murray)  had 
been  labouring  at,  he  would  withdraw  from  the 
contest ;  he  meant,  the  efforts  he  had  made,  in  con 
cert  with  many  of  his  brother  officers,  to  do  away  the 
practice  of  impressment"  Need  I  go  further  ?  If 
the  conviction  of  the  impolicy  and  enormity  of  this 
practice — this  stain  upon  British  humanity  and 
justice — this  merciless  violation  of  the  dearest  of 
human  rights — has  found  its  way  into  the  circle  of 
ship  owners,  and  naval  officers,  is  it  conceiveable 
that  the  conviction  will  stop  there?  No,  it  will 
spread,  until  echoed  by  the  voice  of  all  Britain 
— until  the  horrors  of  the  press-gang,  and  the  hor 
rors  of  the  slave  ship,  will  be  spoken  of  in  the  same 
way.  British  moralists  will  deplore  it,  British 
orators  will  denounce  it,  British  legislators  extir 
pate  it;  and  British  historians,  in  recording  its 
long  existence  as  a  remnant  of  barbarism  and 
tyranny,  utter  sentiments  of  sober  joy  at  its 
downfal. 

Finally,  I  superadd  my  testimony  to  that  of 
every  other  American,  that  the  United  States  can 
not  again  permit  the  exercise,  by  any  foreign 
power,  of  impressment  on  board  their  vessels  at 
sea.  After  the  incontestible  facts  set  forth  in  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  this  work,  they  would  be  untrue 


414  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

to  themselves,  and  the  race  they  spring  from,  if 
they  did. 

I  have  gone  through  the  topics  of  this  negotia 
tion.  I  have  given,  succinctly,  but  I  trust  accu 
rately,  those  comprised  in  the  convention ;  I  have 
set  forth,  I  hope  intelligibly,  and  enough  at  large, 
the  causes  of  disappointment  as  to  others.  May 
the  day  soon  arrive  when  the  adjustment  of  at 
least  that  of  impressment,  may  cement  by  yet 
closer  ties  two  nations  that  ought  to  feel  and 
act  like  friends,  instead  of  pouring  out  their  blood 
in  battle. 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  4J5 


CHAPTER  XXL 

The  English  in  the  autumn.     Inauguration  of  the  Lord  Mayor. 
Death  of  the  Queen. 

WHILST  the  negotiation  was  going  on,  its  busi 
ness  absorbed  attention.  Of  other  occurrences 
during  its  pendency,  I  have  therefore  little  to  say. 
We  dined  with  some  of  the  cabinet  ministers  and 
diplomatic  corps.  On  one  occasion,  a  portion  of 
the  ambassadors  of  the  great  powers  and  several 
of  the  ministers  plenipotentiary,  gratified  me  by 
dining  at  my  house,  to  meet  Mr.  Gallatin.  Some 
of  them  had  taken  a  lively  interest  in  the  progress 
of  our  negotiation ;  nor  did  I  scruple  to  impart 
to  them,  in  fit  ways,  and  to  the  proper  extent,  its 
events.  Seldom  have  the  United  States  occasion 
for  concealment  in  any  of  their  public  policy  or 
acts ;  and  no  where  is  the  maxim  more  appli 
cable  than  in  diplomatic  circles,  that,  to  get  con 
fidence,  it  must  be  given. 

A  French  philosopher  has  said,  that  every  day 


416  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  his  life  formed  a  page  of  his  works.  I  cannot 
claim  this  merit,  if  merit  it  be.  It  was  not  my 
habit  to  note  down,  as  a  daily  task,  the  personal 
scenes  in  which  I  was  intermingling,  but  gave  my 
self  to  the  practice  only  accordingtomy  inclinations 
and  opportunities ;  during  the  negotiation,  and 
for  the  ramainder  of  the  year,  it  so  fell  out  that  I 
scarcely  indulged  in  it  at  all.  Soon  after  the  close 
of  our  joint  labours,  Mr.  Gallatin  returned  to  Paris, 
leaving  me  to  regret  the  loss  of  a  colleague  so 
enlightened. 

In  the  west-end  of  London  during  the  autumn, 
little  is  seen  but  uninhabited  houses.  It  brings  to 
mind  the  city  in  the  Arabian  Nights,  where  every 
thing  was  dead.  The  roll  of  the  carriage,  the 
assemblage  in  the  parks,  the  whole  panorama  of 
life,  in  that  great  portion  of  English  society  where 
amusement  is  the  business  of  life,  stops.  Pass 
Temple  Bar,  and  winter  and  spring,  summer  and 
autumn,  every  day  of  every  season,  present  the 
same  crowds.  Nothing  thins  them,  and  their  in 
crease  would  seem  impossible ;  but  the  depopula 
tion  of  the  west-end,  is  nearly  complete.  The 
adjournment  of  parliament  is  the  first  signal  for 
desertion.  Every  where  you  see  post  chaises 
and  travelling  carriages  with  their  light  and  live 
ried  postillions,  issuing  from  the  squares  and 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  417 

sweeping  round  the  corners ;  the  servants  sitting 
down  in  seats  outside,  and  the  luggage  concealed 
in  the  capacious  box  on  top.  Four  horses  are 
driven,  contrary  to  the  custom  with  the  town  car 
riage,  in  which  you  see  but  two.  For  a  while  this 
movement  is  constant.  The  gay  emigrants  find 
their  country  seats  all  ready  for  their  reception. 
Thiebault  tells  us,  that  the  king  of  Prussia  had 
libraries  at  several  of  his  palaces,  containing  the 
same  books,  arranged  in  the  same  order ;  so  that 
when  going  from  one  to  another,  the  train  of  his 
studies  might  not  be  broken.  So  the  English  on 
arriving  at  their  seats,  even  if  they  have  several, 
which  is  often  the  case,  find  every  thing  they 
want;  unlike  the  chateaux  in  the  provinces  of 
France,  which  are  said  to  be  ill-furnished  and 
bare,  compared  with  the  fine  hotels  of  Paris. 

The  next  great  egress,  is  on  the  approach  of  the 
first  of  September.  That  day  is  an  era  in  Eng 
land.  Partridge  shooting  begins  upon  it ;  and  all 
who  have  not  left  town  with  the  first  flight,  now 
follow.  Ministers  of  state,  even  lord  chancellors, 
can  hardly  be  kept  from  going  a-field.  When  our 
conference  of  the  twenty-ninth  of  August  was  fin 
ished,  my  colleague  and  I,  without  reflection,  nam 
ed  the  first  of  September  for  the  next  meeting. 

53 


41  g  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818 

"  Spare  us"  said  one  of  the  British  plenipoten 
tiaries  ;  "  it  is  the  first  day  of  partridge  shooting  /" 
The  families  that  flock  into  the  country,  gene 
rally  remain  until  Christmas,  the  hospitalities  con 
nected  with  which  usually  close  with  twelfth-night, 
or  soon  afterwards.  Some  stay  much  longer. 
Cabinet  ministers  and  the  diplomatic  corps,  are 
among  the  few  persons  left  in  the  metropolis,  and 
these  in  diminished  number.  The  latter  are  often 
of  the  invited  guests,  when  the  English  thus  ex 
change  the  hospitalities  of  the  town  for  those, 
more  prolonged  and  magnificent,  at  their  country 
abodes.  Field  sports  are  added  to  the  festivities ; 
hunting  of  all  kinds,  the  fox,  the  hare,  the  stag  ; 
shooting,  with  I  know  not  what  else,  including 
archery,  of  the  days  of  the  Plantagenets ;  which 
last  pastime,  like  the  chase,  is  sometimes  graced 
by  the  competitions  of  female  agility.  But  foreign 
ambassadors  and  ministers  do  not  always  find  it 
convenient  to  profit  of  these  invitations.  If  not 
every  day  engaged  in  negotiations,  one  seldom 
goes  by  with  those  representing  countries  in  large 
intercourse  with  England,  unmarked  by  calls  upon 
their  official  time ;  and  like  men  of  business  every 
where,  they  must  be  at  the  place  of  their  business, 
to  do,  or  to  watch  it.  But  if,  for  the  most  part, 
cut  off  from  these  rural  recreations,  there  is  one 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  419 

way  in  which  they  partake  of  the  results ;  I  mean 
in  abundance  of  game  for  their  tables.  Amongst 
the  persons  to  whom  mine  was  indebted  through 
out  the  autumn,  I  must  not  forget  one  of  the 
British  plenipotentiaries ;  and,  let  me  here  add, 
that  if  not  of  the  same  mind  with  us  on  all  official 
discussions,  they  both  made  us  sensible,  in  all  ways, 
of  their  personal  courtesy. 

The  enthusiastic  fondness  of  the  English  for  the 
country,  is  the  effect  of  their  laws,  and  principally 
of  those  relating  to  descent.  Scarcely  any  per 
sons  who  hold  a  leading  place  in  the  circles  of 
their  society,  can  be  said  to  live  in  London.  They 
have  houses  in  London,  in  which  they  stay  while 
parliament  sits,  and  occasionally  visit  at  other 
seasons ;  but  their  homes  are  in  the  country ;  their 
turretted  mansions  are  there,  with  all  that  denotes 
perpetuity — heir-looms,  family  memorials,  the  li 
brary,  the  tombs.  This  spreads  the  same  ambi 
tion  among  other  classes,  and  the  taste  for  rural 
life,  however  diversified  or  graduated  the  scale, 
becomes  widely  diffused.  Those  who  live  on  their 
estates  through  successive  generations,  not  speak 
ing  of  those  merely  who  have  titles,  but  thousands 
beside,  acquire,  if  they  have  the  right  qualities  of 
character,  an  influence  throughout  their  neigh 
bourhood.  It  is  not  an  interest  always  enlisted  on 


420  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818, 

the  side  of  power  and  privilege ;  on  the  contrary, 
there  are  numerous  instances  in  which  it  has  been 
used  for  ages  in  furtherance  of  popular  rights. 
Let  me  mention  as  one,  and  a  signal  one,  Mr. 
Coke  of  Norfolk,  the  invariable  friend  of  the  United 
States,  whose  abundant  and  cordial  hospitalities, 
it  has  been  my  lot,  in  common  with  so  many  other 
Americans,  to  experience  at  Holkham.  It  is  this 
which  lies  at  the  root  of  the  desertion  of  the  west- 
end  of  the  town  when  parliament  rises.  The  per 
manent  interests  and  affections  of  the  leading 
classes,  centre  almost  universally  in  the  country, 
and  these  classes  are  constantly  enlarged  by  addi 
tions  from  those  who  amass  wealth  through  manu 
facturing  and  commercial  industry ;  who  so  often 
make  it  the  end  and  aim  of  their  accumulations, 
to  purchase  landed  estates  and  live  upon  them. 
Heads  of  families  go  into  the  country  to  resume 
their  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  feelings  and  attach 
ments  to  which  I  allude ;  and  all  to  partake  of  the 
pastimes  of  the  country  life  where  they  flourish  in 
pomp  and  joy. 

In  other  parts  of  London,  in  the  vast  limits  be 
tween  Temple  Bar  and  the  Tower,  the  crowds,  I 
have  said,  continue  the  same.  Even  here,  how 
ever,  the  passion  for  the  country  peeps  out.  Every 
evening,  when  business  is  over,  the  citizens  may 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  421 

be  seen  going  to  their  cottages  that  skirt  the  wide 
environs  towards  Highgate,  Hornsey,  Hackney, 
Stratford,  Clapham,  Camberwell,  Greenwich,  and 
in  all  directions.  I  heard  a  physician  call  the 
Parks  near  London,  the  "  lungs  of  London"  These 
little  retreats,  many  of  them  hidden  amidst  foli 
age,  and  showing  the  neatness  that  seems  stamped 
upon  every  thing  rural  in  England,  in  like  manner 
serve  the  citizens  as  places  in  which  to  breathe, 
after  the  pent-up  air  of  confined  streets  and  count 
ing  rooms.  To  the  latter  they  return  on  the 
following  morning  to  plan  operations  that  affect 
the  markets  and  wealth  of  the  civilized  world. 

On  the  ninth  of  November,  I  dined  at  Guildhall. 
It  was  the  day  of  the  inauguration  of  the  Lord 
Mayor ;  for  so  it  is,  that  the  season  at  which  the 
royal  palaces  are  shut,  and  all  the  west-end  silence 
and  gloom,  is  the  very  season  when  official  splen 
dour  in  the  city  is  highest.  Mr.  Alderman  Atkins 
had  been  the  successful  candidate.  There  was 
the  grand  procession  upon  the  Thames,  and 
through  the  streets.  I  need  not  give  a  description 
of  it ;  it  has  been  as  often  described  as  St.  Paul's 
cathedral,  or  Westminster  Abbey,  and  it  does  not 
fall  within  my  design  to  repeat  such  things.  The 
dinner  was  in  the  large  Gothic  hall.  There  sat 
down  to  it  about  nine  hundred  persons.  The  giants 


422  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  F1818 

and  knights  clad  in  steel,  the  band  of  music  slowly 
moving  round  the  hall,  the  aldermen  in  their  cos 
tumes,  the  sheriffs  with  their  gold  chains,  the 
judges  in  their  robes,  the  Lady  Mayoress  in  her 
hoop,  with  long  rows  of  prosperous  looking  citi 
zens,  presented  a  novel  and  animating  mixture  of 
modern  manners  with  symbols  of  the  ancient 
banquet.  The  lights,  the  decorations,  the  variety 
and  profusion  of  food  and  wines,  gave  a  high  im 
pression  of  municipal  plenty  and  munificence. 
The  premier,  Lord  Liverpool;  Lord  Bathurst, 
Lord  Sidmouth,  and  Mr.  Vansittart,  as  cabinet 
ministers,  were  guests ;  with  many  other  official 
characters. 

One  of  the  knights  wore  the  helmet  wliich  the 
city  of  London  gave  to  Henry  the  Seventh.  Its 
weight  was  fourteen  pounds.  The  other  knight, 
wore  the  entire  armour  of  Henry  the  Fifth ;  which 
was  that  of  a  small  man.  Lord  Sidmouth,  near  to 
whom  I  sat,  remarked,  that  all  the  armour  of  that 
day  and  earlier,  indicated  the  stature  to  be  smaller 
than  at  present ;  which  brought  to  my  mind  what 
Sir  John  Sinclair  said,  at  Ormly-lodge.  The  rea 
sons  assigned  were,  improved  agriculture,  and  bet 
ter  personal  habits  from  the  greater  diffusion  of 
comforts  among  the  people  through  the  increase 
of  wealth  and  science;  also,  the  disappearance  of 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  423 

certain  diseases,  as  leprosy  and  scurvy,  and  the 
advancement  of  medical  knowledge.  Mr.  Van- 
sittart  said,  that  the  remains  of  Roman  armour 
had  shown  the  Romans  to  be  a  smaller  race  of 
men  than  the  moderns. 

After  the  King,  Prince  Regent,  and  members 
of  the  royal  family,  had  been  given  as  toasts,  the 
lord  mayor  proposed  my  name,  that  he  might 
make  it  the  medium  of  cordial  sentiments  towards 
the  United  States.  These  the  company  received 
with  applause.  In  returning  thanks,  I  reciprocated 
the  friendly  national  feelings  he  had  expressed. 

Before  going  to  dinner,  we  were  in  the  council 
room.  Among  the  paintings,  was  a  very  large 
one  of  the  scene  between  Richard  the  Second  and 
Wat  Tyler;  another,  of  that  between  Mary  of 
Scots  and  Rizzio  ;  one  of  the  Seige  of  Gibraltar, 
by  Copley ;  and  other  pieces.  But  I  looked  with 
chief  interest  at  the  portraits  of  the  naval  com 
manders.  Pausing  at  Nelson's,  Lord  Sidmouth 
said,  that  in  the  course  of  a  visit  he  had  had  from 
him  three  weeks  before  the  battle  of  Trafalgar, 
he  described  the  plan  of  it  with  bits  of  paper  on  a 
table,  as  it  was  afterwards  fought.  When  we 
came  to  Duncan's,  he  recited  the  lines  by  Lord 
Wellesley,  on  the  victory  over  the  Dutch,  off  Cam- 
perdown ;  at  Howe's  Mr.  Vansittart  said,  that  just 


424  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

before  his  great  battle  with  the  French  fleet,  the 
sailors  expressed  a  wish  for  a  little  more  grog ; 
Howe  replied,  "  Let  'em  wait  'till  its  over,  and  we'll 
all  get  drunk  together."  At  Rodney's,  some  con 
versation  took  place  on  the  manoeuvre  which  he 
first  practised  in  his  victory  over  De  Grasse,  of 
breaking  the  enemy's  line.  I  asked,  whether  the 
success  of  that  mode  of  attack  did  not  essentially 
depend  upon  the  inferiority  of  your  enemy,  espe 
cially  in  gunnery.  It  was  admitted  that  it  did, 
and  that  Lord  Nelson  always  so  considered  it. 
The  Marlborough,  Rodney's  leading  ship,  received 
the  successive  broadsides  of  twenty-three  of  the 
French  ships  of  the  line,  at  near  distance,  and  had 
not  more  than  half  a  dozen  of  her  men  killed.  My 
motive  to  the  inquiry  was,  a  remark  I  once  heard 
from  Commodore  Decatur  of  our  service ;  viz. 
that,  in  the  event  of  English  fleets  and  those 
of  the  United  States  meeting,  the  former  would 
probably  change  entirely  their  system  of  tactics 
in  action.  I  discovered,  in  the  same  conversation, 
that  our  officers  had  minutely  turned  their  atten 
tion  to  the  fleet  tactics  of  England,  and  were 
masters  of  the  points  on  which  all  her  great  battles 
by  sea,  for  a  century  past,  appeared  to  have  turn 
ed.  Speaking  of  naval  science  in  England,  Lord 
Sidmouth  said,  that  it  had  greatly  improved  of  late 


1818.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  425 

years ;  that  Lord  Exmouth  told  him  that  when  he 
was  a  young  man,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  lieu 
tenants  to  be  ignorant  of  lunar  observations,  but 
that  now  no  midshipman  was  promoted  who  could 
not  take  them.  He  intimated  his  belief,  that  naval 
science  generally,  and  particularly  naval  architec 
ture,  was  destined  to  far  higher  advances  than  it 
had  yet  reached.  Talking  of  government,  Lord 
Sidmouth  remarked,  that  the  main  fault  was 
governing  too  much;  so  masters  were  apt  to 
govern  their  servants  too  much,  as  parents  their 
children.  Of  Chesterfield's  letters,  he  said,  that 
they  were  not  in  vogue  as  models  of  educa 
tion  in  the  classes  for  which  they  seemed  intended, 
adding,  that  truth,  courage,  and  the  maxims  of 
Christianity,  were  the  leading  points  of  education 
with  those  classes. 

After  dinner  we  went  into  the  ball  room,  where 
a  ball  terminated  the  festivities. 

I  should  not  soon  have  done  if  I  were  to  men 
tion  all  the  instances  of  which  I  chanced  on  this 
occasion  to  hear,  of  riches  among  mechanics,  ar 
tisans,  and  others,  engaged  in  the  common  walks 
of  business  in  this  great  city ;  but  I  will  make  a 
few  selections.  I  heard  of  haberdashers  who 
cleared  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year,  by 

retail  shopkeeping ;  of  brewers,  whose  buildings 

54 


426  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

and  fixtures  necessary  to  carry  on  business,  cost 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds ;  of  silver 
smiths  worth  half  a  million  ;  of  a  person  in  Exeter 
change  who  had  made  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
chiefly  by  manufacturing  razors ;  of  job-horse 
keepers  who  held  a  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
pounds  in  the  three  per  cents;  and  of  confec 
tioners  and  wollen  drapers  who  had  funded  sums 
still  larger.  Of  the  higher  order  of  merchants, 
bankers,  and  capitalists  of  that  stamp,  many  of 
whom  were  present,  whose  riches  I  heard  of,  I 
am  unwilling  to  speak,  lest  I  should  seem  to  ex 
aggerate.  I  have  given  specimens  enough. 
During  the  late  war  with  France,  I  was  told,  that 
there  had  once  been  recruited  in  a  single  day  in 
the  country  between  Manchester  and  Birmingham, 
two  thousand  able  bodied  working  men,  for  the 
British  army.  It  is  the  country  so  remarkable  for 
its  collieries,  iron  mines  and  blast  furnaces.  A 
portion  of  it  is  sometimes  called  the  fire  coun 
try,  from  the  flames  that  issue  in  rolling  volumes 
from  the  lofty  tops  of  the  furnaces  ;  which,  seen 
in  all  directions  by  the  traveller  at  night,  present 
a  sight,  that,  in  contrast  with  the  surrounding  dark 
ness,  maybe  called  awful,  making  you  imagine  some 
great  calamity  announced  by  these  beacon  fires. 
In  going  over  some  parts  of  this  extraordinary 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  427 

country,  you  are  told  that  human  beings  are  at 
work  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  below,  into  which 
they  descend  through  deep  shafts  cut  through  its 
desolate  surface.  A  member  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  on  hearing  of  the  above  enlistment  remarked, 
that  could  Bonaparte  have  known  that  fact ;  could 
he  have  seen  the  whole  region  from  which  the  men 
came,  bordering  also  as  it  does  upon  a  country 
of  the  highest  fertility  for  crops  of  grain ;  seen 
the  evidences  of  opulence  and  strength  in  its  pub 
lic  works,  its  manufacturing  establishments  and 
towns,  and  abundant  agriculture,  notwithstanding 
the  alleged  or  real  pauperism  of  some  of  the  dis 
tricts,  it  would,  of  itself,  have  induced  him  to  give 
over  the  project  of  invading  England. 

In  like  manner,  let  any  one  go  to  a  Lord 
Mayor's  dinner,  not  simply  to  eat  and  drink,  but 
to  regard  it  under  other  aspects  ;  let  him  be  told 
of  the  enormous  sums  owned  by  those  he  will  see 
around  him  and  others  he  may  hear  of,  not  inher 
ited  from  ancestors,  but  self-acquired  by  individual 
industry  in  all  ways  in  which  the  hand  and  mind 
of  man  can  be  employed,  notwithstanding  all  that 
the  taxes  take  away,  and  he  will  hesitate  before  he 
predicts  the  ruin  of  England  from  any  of  her 
present  financial  difficulties.  Predictions  of  this 


428  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

nature  have  been  repeated  for  ages  without  coming 
to  pass.  Rich  subjects  among  the  active  and 
working  classes,  make  a  rich  nation.  As  the 
former  increase,  so  will  the  means  of  filling  the 
coffers  of  the  latter.  Let  contemporary  nations 
lay  it  to  their  account,  that  England  is  more  pow 
erful  now,  far  more,  than  at  any  former  period, 
notwithstanding  her  debt  and  taxes.  This  know 
ledge  should  form  an  element  in  their  foreign 
policy.  Let  them  assure  themselves  that  instead 
of  declining,  she  is  advancing ;  that  her  population 
increases  fast ;  that  she  is  constantly  seeking  new 
fields  of  enterprise  in  distant  parts  of  the  world, 
and  adding  to  improvements,  already  costly  and 
stupendous,  scattered  over  the  face  of  her  Island  at 
home,  new  ones  that  promise  to  go  beyond  them  ;  in 
fine,  that  instead  of  being  worn  out,  as  is  so  often 
supposed  on  grounds  that  seem  plausible,  she  is  go 
ing  ahead  with  the  buoyant  spirit  and  vigorous  ex 
ertions  of  youth.  It  is  an  observation  of  Madame 
de  Stael,  how  ill  England  is  understood  on  the  con 
tinent  in  spite  of  the  little  distance  that  separates 
her  from  it.  How  much  more  likely  that  nations  be 
tween  whom  and  herself  an  ocean  interposes,  should 
fall  into  mistakes  on  the  true  nature  of  her  power 
and  prospects ;  should  imagine  their  foundations  to 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  429 

be  crumbling,  instead  of  steadily  striking  into 
more  depth  and  spreading  into  wider  compass. 
Britain  exists  all  over  the  world  in  her  colonies. 
These  give  her  the  means  of  advancing  her  indus 
try  and  opulence  for  ages  to  come.  They  are 
portions  of  her  territory  more  valuable  than  if 
joined  to  her  Island.  The  sense  of  distance  is 
destroyed  by  her  command  of  ships,  and  becomes 
in  itself  an  advantage,  as  serving  to  feed  her  com 
merce  and  marine.  Situated  on  every  continent, 
lying  in  every  sea,  these,  her  out-dominions,  make 
her  the  centre  of  a  trade  now  unparalleled  yet 
perpetually  increasing ; — a  home  trade,  and,  in 
effect,  a  foreign  trade  ;  for  it  yields  the  advantages 
of  both — the  whole  being  under  her  control. 
They  take  off  her  redundant  population,  yet  make 
her  more  populous ;  multiply  the  demand  for  her 
manufactures,  as  the  foreign  demand  slackens  by 
other  nations  manufacturing  for  themselves  ;  and 
are  destined,  under  a  policy  already  commenced 
towards  them  and  to  be  more  extensively  pursued, 
to  expand,  we  can  hardly  say  how  far,  her  empire, 
commercial  manufacturing  and  maritime.  Her 
oriental  possessions,  had  she  no  others,  open  to 
her,  under  a  more  unfettered  administration  of  their 
affairs,  prospects  of  industry  and  riches  yet  un 
tried,  but  of  the  greatest  promise.  It  is  a  saying 


430  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

of  her  manufacturers,  that  she  could  not  only 
supply  this  globe  with  manufactures  but  other 
planets,  if  their  markets  were  open ;  figures  of 
speech,  although  exaggerated,  seeming  alone 
adequate  to  express  her  capabilities  in  this  line. 
It  belongs  to  such  reflections  to  add,  that  even 
Bermuda,  that  speck  in  the  ocean,  the  place  that 
hitherto  poets  and  tourists  have  chiefly  written 
about,  is  destined,  under  a  policy  now  meditated, 
to  become  in  another  age  a  depot  of  British  naval 
power  (in  connexion  with  the  use  of  steam)  such 
as  no  single  spot  on  this  hemisphere  has  before 
witnessed.  Whatever  changes  may  take  place  in 
the  form  of  her  government,  will  make  little  dif 
ference  in  these  reflections ;  for,  did  she  advance 
less  in  political  or  maritime  power  under  the  com 
monwealth,  than  under  her  kings  ?  I  repeat  it — 
let  other  nations,  let  the  United  States  in  particu 
lar,  look  to  these  things,  making  them  an  element 
in  their  foreign  policy.  I  intend  no  idle  or  over 
strained  exhibition  of  British  power  and  resources, 
but  write  with  different  views,  and  on  a  foundation 
of  what  I  believe  to  be  truth. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  November,  died  the 
Queen.  She  expired  at  Kew  palace,  after  a  long 
illness.  The  last  time  I  saw  her,  was  at  an  enter 
tainment  at  Carlton  House.  There,  as  at  the 


COURT  OF  LONDON.  431 

royal  marriage,  she  had  been  distinguished  by  her 
affability.  Going  away,  gentlemen  attendants, 
and  servants  with  lights,  preceded  her  sedan ; 
whilst  the  company  gave  tokens  of  respectful 
deference.  Now,  she  had  paid  the  common  debt 
of  nature.  The  event  was  communicated  to  me 
in  a  note  from  Lord  Bathurst,  received  the  same 
evening ;  a  form  observed  towards  all  foreign  am 
bassadors  and  ministers.  The  same  form  is  ob 
served  towards  them — and  to  the  minister  of  a 
republic  it  seems  curious — on  the  occasion  of  the 
birth  of  any  infant  prince  or  princess  within  the 
pale  of  the  royal  family. 

The  Queen  enjoyed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  re 
spect  and  affection  of  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain.  For  more  than  half 
a  century,  her  conduct  upon  the  throne  had  been 
to  the  nation  satisfactory.  There  were  periods 
when  it  was  said,  that  she  had  interfered  beyond 
her  sphere  in  public  affairs  ;  but  besides  the  obsta 
cles  to  this,  under  a  constitutional  government  like 
that  of  England,  however  frequent  may  be  the 
instances  in  arbitrary  governments,  there  never 
appears  to  have  been  any  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
fact.  Colonel  Barre,  the  bold  and  eloquent  cham 
pion  of  the  colonies  during  the  American  war, 
eulogized,  in  one  of  his  opposition  speeches,  her 


432  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

"  unassuming  virtues ;"  and  it  seems  agreed,  that 
in  the  relations  of  private  life,  her  conduct  was 
always  exemplary.  The  public  voice  adds,  that 
the  British  court  maintained  in  her  time,  a  char 
acter  of  uniform  decorum  arid  chastened  gran 
deur. 

Her  funeral  was  on  the  second  of  December,  at 
Windsor.  The  body  had  lain  in  state  for  the 
time  usual.  The  procession  moved  from  Kew ; 
where  I  went,  with  my  sons.  The  multitude  was 
so  great,  of  carriages,  persons  on  horseback,  and 
foot  passengers,  that  it  might  be  said  to  form  a 
compact  mass  from  London  to  Kew,  a  distance  of 
eight  miles.  It  continued,  as  long  as  I  looked,  to 
press  forward.  As  night  came  on,  the  road  was 
lighted  with  torches  borne  by  the  military.  These, 
gleaming  upon  the  soldier's  helmets,  and  partially 
disclosing  the  hearse,  and  long  solemn  procession 
winding  its  slow  way  with  its  trappings  of  death, 
now  hidden  by  interposing  obstacles,  then  re-appear 
ing,  presented  a  spectacle  for  the  pencil  or  the  muse. 
The  interment  took  place  in  the  royal  chapel  of 
St.  George.  There,  for  centuries,  had  reposed 
the  remains  of  kings  and  queens ;  and  there,  they 
had  mouldered,  like  peasant's,  to  dust.  Around 
the  vault,  seen  by  dim  lights  in  the  Gothic  interior, 
were  assembled  the  Prince  Regent,  and  other 


1818.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  433 

members  of  the  royal  family,  with  a  few  of  the 
personages  who  composed  the  funeral  train,  listen 
ing  to  the  service  and  anthems  for  the  dead. 
Canning  was  of  the  number — Canning,  with  sensi 
bilities  always  quick  to  whatever  in  human  scenes 
might  awaken  moral  reflection,  or  lift  up  the  tone 
of  the  imagination. 

On  the  third  of  December,  the  theatres  were 
re-opened.  I  went  to  Drury  Lane.  The  house 
was  crowded,  and  every  body  in  black  for  the 
Queen.  Orders  for  a  court  mourning,  take  in  only 
a  limited  class ;  but  the  streets,  as  the  theatres, 
are  filled  with  persons  of  all  classes,  who  put  it  on. 
Even  children,  in  many  instances,  w-ear  it;  and 
servants.  Such  is  the  usage  of  the  country. 
The  play  was  Brutus,  or  the  Fall  of  Tarquin,  a 
new  tragedy,  by  Mr.  Howard  Payne,  a  young 
American.  I  felt  anxious  for  an  author  who  was 
my  countryman,  and  had  the  gratification  to  wit 
ness  his  complete  success.  When  the  piece  was 
announced  for  repetition,  bursts  of  applause  fol 
lowed,  and  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  the  month,  accidents 
occurred  all  over  London  from  a  remarkable  fog. 
Carriages  ran  against  each  other,  and  persons 
were  knocked  down  by  them  at  the  crossings. 

The  whole  gang  of  pickpockets  seemed  to  be  let 

55 


434  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1818. 

loose.  After  perpetrating  their  deeds,  they  eluded 
detection  by  darting  into  the  fog.  It  was  of  an 
opake,  dingy  yellow.  Torches  were  used  as  guides 
to  carriages  at  mid-day,  but  gave  scarcely  any 
light  through  the  fog.  I  went  out  for  a  few  min 
utes.  It  was  dismal. 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON,  435 


CHAPTER  XXII, 

Americans  abroad.  Cases  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  Open 
ing  of  Parliament — Royal  Speech  by  Commission.  Dinner 
at  Mr.  Wellesley  Pole's.  Chesapeake  and  Shannon. 

January  1.  TWELVE  of  my  countrymen  dined 
with  me*  A  few  were  residents  of  London ;  the 
remainder,  here  on  their  travels.  Some  were  going 
to  Italy ;  others  had  been,  or  were  going,  to 
France,  and  other  parts  of  the  continent. 

It  has  been  my  habit  to  see  my  countrymen  at 
my  table,  as  often  as  in  my  power.  To-day,  as 
generally  on  these  occasions,  we  indulged  in  home 
topics.  Admire  as  we  may  what  we  see  abroad, 
who  among  us  that  has  ever  left  his  own  country, 
does  not  feel  that  his  warmest  affections  point  to 
it  as  a  centre  ?  Though  we  cannot,  in  its  infancy, 
claim  for  it  all  the  monuments  of  science,  letters 
and  the  arts,  that  are  the  slow  growth  of  time,  we 
have  already,  under  each,  made  rapid  progress. 
In  some,  we  believe  that  we  have  made  improve- 


436  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

ments.  The  prospect  before  us  is  full  of  hope — 
is  boundless;  not  resting  on  idle  boast,  but  the 
realities  of  the  past.  A  noble  freedom  is  ours, 
founded  on  the  broad  basis  of  equal  rights;  a 
freedom  fitted  for  producing  the  highest  energies 
and  refinements  of  civilization,  yet  restrained  by 
constitutional  limits ;  guarded  also  against  some 
of  the  risks  of  that  state,  by  the  habits  of  our  peo 
ple,  who,  from  their  origin,  have  been  trained  to  its 
blessings  ;  and,  knowing  their  value,  will  know 
forever  how  to  cling  to  them.  With  this,  as  the 
ground-work  of  national  character ;  with  political 
advantages,  the  result  of  geographical  situation ; 
and  great  agricultural,  manufacturing  and  com 
mercial  capabilities,  to  what  a  career  of  power  and 
fame,  if  true  to  ourselves,  may  we  not  look  for 
ward?  These  are  sentiments  that  Americans 
meeting  in  another  land,  delight  to  interchange. 
The  heart  has  no  higher  pleasures  than  those 
which  the  feelings  of  country  inspire.  They  are 
exalted  by  absence.  An  American  minister  abroad, 
must  then  be  ever  in  the  experience  of  his  purest 
social  enjoyments,  when  he  sees  around  him  his 
countrymen  as  guests. 

January  7.     Received  a  note  from  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  requesting  me  to  call  on  him  to-day  at  four, 


1819.]  COURT  OF  LONDON.  437 

at  his  private  residence.  It  was  dated  last  night, 
and  indorsed,  " Immediate"  He  was  confined 
with  the  gout.  I  was  shown  into  a  dressing  room 
adjoining  his  chamber,  where  I  found  him  on  his 
couch. 

It  was  my  first  interview  with  him  since  the 
negotiation.  He  expressed  his  satisfaction  at 
what  had  been  accomplished,  with  a  regret  that 
more  had  not  been  done.  Of  impressment,  he 
barely  said,  that  it  had  gone  off  on  a  point  unex 
pected. 

He  had  sent  for  me  on  the  cases  of  Arbuthnot 
and  Ambrister.  The  British  government,  he  re 
marked,  had  received  from  Mr.  Bagot,  their  min 
ister  in  Washington,  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  court  martial,  which  had  been  under  full 
deliberation  at  a  cabinet  council. 

The  opinion  formed  was,  that  the  conduct  of 
these  individuals  had  been  unjustifiable,  and  there 
fore  not  calling  for  the  special  interference  of 
Great  Britain. 

Whilst  announcing  this  result,  he  had  also  to 
say,  that  parts  of  the  transaction  were  viewed  as 
open  to  exception,  whether  as  regarded  some  of 
the  operations  in  Florida,  or  the  conduct  of  the 
commanding  general  of  the  United  States,  in 
ordering  Ambrister  to  be  executed  after  the  first 


438  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

sentence  against  him  was  revoked.  He  then  read 
me  a  despatch  drawn  up  by  the  British  government, 
and  addressed  to  Mr.  Bagot,  which  embraced  the 
substance  of  his  foregoing  communication  to  me. 

I  expressed  the  satisfaction  which  I  was  sure 
my  government  would  feel  at  the  principal  deci 
sion,  intermingling  a  regret  at  the  other  sentiments 
with  which  its  disclosure  was  accompanied. 

His  lordship  then  remarked,  that  it  was  his 
desire  to  hold  a  conversation  with  me  upon  the 
views  of  the  British  government  respecting  the 
Indians  along  our  frontier ;  but  that  for  the  pre 
sent  he  would  forbear,  having  reason  to  expect  a 
communication  from  me.  Here  he  read  part  of  a 
despatch  from  Mr.  Bagot,  dated  the  third  of  De 
cember,  in  which  he  informs  his  government,  that 
Mr.  Adams  had  given  him  to  understand,  that 
instructions  would  be  sent  to  me,  to  afford  full 
explanations  in  relation  to  the  case  of  these  two 
British  subjects. 

I  replied,  that  I  had  actually  received  such  in 
structions  ;  but  as  they  had  only  just  got  to  hand, 
I  was  not  prepared  to  act  upon  them.  I  would  be 
ready  at  the  earliest  time  he  would  appoint ;  on 
which  he  named  the  day  after  to-morrow.  I  added, 
that  although  the  decision  to  which  his  majesty's 
government  had  come,  might  be  considered  as  an- 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  439 

ticipating  to  a  certain  extent  the  object  of  my 
instructions,  I  had  still  a  duty  of  much  moment  to 
perform ;  for  that  I  should  ill  satisfy  the  wishes  of 
the  President,  if  I  suffered  the  record  of  the  court 
martial  to  be  taken  as  a  mere  naked  record,  un 
accompanied  by  elucidations  of  a  nature  some 
what  more  enlarged,  that  would  serve,  I  trusted, 
to  place  the  whole  transaction  in  its  right  attitude. 

January  11.  Called  again  on  Lord  Castlereagh. 
My  call  had  been  postponed  at  his  instance,  from 
Saturday  until  to-day.  I  felt  that  the  task  I  had 
to  execute  was  the  more  important  from  the  deep 
sensation  which  the  execution  of  these  individuals 
had  created  in  England.  It  was  not  enough  that 
the  act  could  be  technically  justified  by  the  strict 
laws  of  nations,  or  sheer  rights  of  war.  I  felt  that 
it  ought  to  stand  on  broader  grounds;  that  it 
ought  to  be  vindicated  to  humanity,  no  less  than 
justice. 

I  said  to  his  lordship,  that  full  justice  could  not 
be  rendered  to  the  United  States,  if  the  unhappy 
occurrence  was  looked  at  simply  by  itself.  It 
was  indispensable  to  consider  it  in  connexion  with 
principles  and  facts  which,  for  a  succession  of 
years,  had  been  interwoven  with  their  history; 
it  was  not  my  design  I  said,  to  enter  minutely 


440  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

into  this  field,  but  I  should  be  unable  to  represent 
in  their  true  spirit  the  views,  or  fulfil  the  expecta 
tions,  of  my  government,  if  I  did  not  go  into  it 
partially.  That  it  seemed  difficult  for  Europe  to 
understand  the  precise  relations  of  policy  and 
feeling  subsisting  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Indians,  bordering  upon,  or  living  within,  their 
territory.  In  many  respects  the  misconceptions 
were  fundamental ;  these  Indians  were  savage, 
wandering  tribes,  yet  very  warlike  ;  their  relations 
towards  the  United  States  were  indeed  so  anoma 
lous  ;  there  was  such  an  absence  of  all  standards 
of  comparison  in  Europe,  that  the  rights  and  obli 
gations  of  the  United  States,  were  scarcely,  per 
haps,  of  a  nature  to  be  accurately  appreciated  but 
by  themselves.  It  seemed  a  part  of  their  system, 
more  than  any  other,  local  and  exclusive.  The 
original  question  of  dispossessing  the  Indians  of 
their  homes,  was  for  the  consideration  of  nations 
that  had  gone  before  us.  We  had  to  take  them 
as  we  found  them.  The  policy  and  intentions  of 
a  nation  could  nowhere  be  better  read  than  in  its 
acts  of  legislation,  and  its  habitual  conduct; 
judged  by  both,  not  only  would  it  be  found  that 
the  United  States  pursued  a  just  treatment  towards 
the  Indians,  but  anxiously  sought  in  all  ways  to 
better  their  condition.  They  purchased  lands 


1819  I  COURT  OF  LONDON.  441 

from  them,  only  with  their  own  consent.  They 
formed  treaties  or  compacts  with  them,  guaranty 
ing  all  their  rights ;  their  laws  guarded  them 
against  the  inroads  of  the  whites,  prohibited  deal 
ings  writh  them  by  which  they  might  be  aggrieved, 
and  in  every  practicable  way  sought  to  diffuse 
among  them  the  lights  and  comforts  of  civilization. 
But  all  these  just  aims  had  too  often  failed,  through 
causes  which  the  United  States  could  not  pre 
vent,  and  sincerely  deplored.  When  peace  with 
the  Indians  had  been  interrupted,  it  was  never  by 
the  wish  of  the  United  States.  In  the  border 
strife  that  preceded  open  hostility,  aggression 
almost  necessarily  came  from  the  Indian.  He 
lived  in  the  forest ;  his  attack  upon  the  whites, 
was  under  cover  of  night,  or  from  his  ambush  by 
day ;  whole  families  were  thus  surprised  and  cut 
off  by  him,  whilst  pursuit  could  hardly  ever  reach 
him,  until  the  tardy  force  of  government  was  called 
out.  In  this  manner  had  our  frontier  inhabitants 
been  slain  throughout  successive  generations. 
But,  left  to  himself,  the  Indian  was  not  always  a 
dangerous  neighbour.  If,  when  roused,  he  took 
his  revenge,  he  was  not  destitute  of  peaceful 
virtues;  and  he  was,  moreover,  essentially  the 
weaker  party.  When  the  government  moved  its 

force,  which  long  experience  had  shown  it  was 

56 


442  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

ever  slow  to  do,  he  was  sure  in  the  end  to  suffer, 
and  be  overcome.  Hence,  if  nothing  else  pre 
vented  his  incursions,  self-interest  would  be  a 
check,  were  it  not  for  the  intermeddling  of  others  ; 
who,  with  the  double  guilt  of  real  enmity  to  the 
Indian  and  the  United  States,  became  the  party 
truly  responsible  for  the  fate  that  awaited  the 
former,  as  well  as  the  butcheries  inflicted  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  the  latter. 

And  here,  I  said,  I  came  to  a  painful,  but  indis 
pensable,  part  of  my  duty.  I  was  compelled  to 
declare,  that  my  government,  resting  upon  suffi 
cient  proofs,  was  satisfied,  that  our  Indian  wars 
generally,  with  the  massacres  on  the  frontier 
always  their  preludes,  had  originated  in  one  and 
the  same  cause.  That  they  had  been  produced 
by  British  traders,  intruding  themselves,  with  evil 
intentions,  among  the  Indians.  To  recapitulate 
the  proofs,  would  not  be  difficult — American 
history  contained  them.  A  single  instance  might 
be  adverted  to.  The  events  of  the  late  war  which 
threw  the  baggage  of  General  Proctor  into  the 
hands  of  the  Americans,  had  put  the  govornment 
of  the  United  States  in  possession  of  documents 
to  show,  that  if  not  all  the  Indian  wars  which 
President  Washington  had  been  compelled  to 
wage,  the  most  formidable  of  them,  were  insti- 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  443 

gated  and  sustained  on  the  side  of  the  Indians  by 
British  traders.  The  enormity  of  such  conduct 
was  the  more  felt  in  the  United  States,  as  it  was 
there  alone  that  its  consequences  were  experienced. 
It  was  known  how  explicit  had  been  the  refusals 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  admit, 
under  any  pretence  whatever,  British  traders 
among  the  Indians  within  their  borders;  from 
what  motives,  might  be  conjectured  from  all  that  I 
was  saying.  That  his  majesty's  government  had 
disowned  all  connexion  with  these  agents  in  their 
work  of  death,  was  well  known ;  which  only  ex 
hibited  their  crimes  under  a  deeper  dye,  seeing 
that  they  persevered  in  perpetrating  them  in  the 
name  of  his  majesty's  government,  mocking  its 
justice,  abusing  its  dignity,  and  misleading  the 
poor  Indian  but  the  more  fatally  by  claiming  to  be 
invested  with  its  high  auspices  and  support.  Here 
was  the  fountain  of  the  evil.  If  any  long  train  of 
outrages  and  sufferings  along  their  frontier,  could 
be  supposed  to  affect  the  sensibilities  of  a  people, 
it  was  such  as  I  was  obliged  to  bring  into  viewT. 

It  was  under  the  recollection  of  them  all,  that 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  was  forced 
to  regard  the  cases  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister. 
The  necessity  of  reviewing  proofs  against  them, 
was  superseded  by  what  had  passed  at  our  inter- 


444  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

view  on  the  seventh  instant.  His  majesty's  go 
vernment  had  acquiesced  in  the  reality  of  their 
guilt,  by  refusing  its  avenging  arm  in  their  behalf. 
It  only  remained  for  me  to  strip  their  punishment 
of  the  features  of  harshness  which,  imperfectly 
understood,  it  might  seem  at  first  sight  to  wear. 
This  I  could  not  do  more  effectually,  than  by  de 
claring  it  to  be  the  belief  of  my  government,  that  it 
was  to  these  two  individuals  that  the  war  with  the 
Seminole  Indians  was  to  be  ascribed.  That  with 
out  their  instigation,  it  never  would  have  taken 
place,  any  more  than  the  massacres  which  pre 
ceded  and  provoked  it ;  the  massacre  of  Mrs.  Gar- 
rit  and  her  children;  the  massacre  of  a  boat's 
crew  with  a  midshipman  at  their  head,  ascending 
the  Appalachicola,  in  time  of  peace;  the  mas 
sacre,  upon  another  occasion,  of  a  party  of  more 
than  thirty  Americans,  amongst  whom  were 
women  and  children,  with  other  massacres  alike 
shocking. 

As  to  Ambrister,  he  had  been  taken  in  arms. 
He  had  dispensed  with  the  necessity  of  evidence, 
by  pleading  guilty  to  the  charge  of  leading  on  the 
Indians  against  American  troops.  And  in  what 
light  did  Ambrister  stand  ?  We  find  him  deceiv 
ing  them  by  representations  which  he  knew  to  be 
untrue ;  striving  to  rouse  them  by  artful  falsifica- 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  445 

tions  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  unfounded  asser 
tions  of  ill  treatment  from  the  Americans.  At 
another  time  he  is  seen  applying  to  the  British 
minister  at  Washington,  to  the  British  governor  at 
New  Providence,  and,  indirectly,  to  the  British 
government  itself,  for  arms  and  ammunition  for 
the  Indians ;  drawing  on  the  war  by  impressions 
made  on  their  minds,  that  they  would  be  upheld 
by  Britain;  and  presumptuously  usurping  the 
highest  official  names  in  Britain,  the  better  to  carry 
on  his  designs.  He  was  the  patron  of  the  Indians, 
the  penman  of  their  petitions,  the  spokesman  at 
their  councils  ;  these  were  the  methods  by  which 
he  worked  upon  their  passions — these  the  testimo 
nials  of  his  guilt.  It  was  a  guilt  to  which,  in  the 
eye  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the 
credulous  Indian  whilst  perpetrating  his  worst 
enormities,  was  only  secondary.  It  therefore 
called  for  the  last  punishment. 

As  connected  with  the  general  subject  of  Indian 
cruelties,  I  spoke  of  the  massacres  of  American 
prisoners  during  the  late  war,  by  the  tribes  asso 
ciated  with  the  British  army.  I  brought  into  view 
those  committed  after  the  battle  on  the  river 
Raisin.  On  that  occasion,  American  officers,  who 
had  surrendered,  were  scalped  and  murdered  in 
the  presence  of  British  officers,  the  latter  declar- 


446  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

ing  their  inability  to  restrain  the  ferocity  of  the 
Indians.  Among  the  victims,  was  Captain  Hart, 
the  brother-in  law  of  Mr.  Clay,  the  speaker  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  the  United  States.  The 
public  sensation  under  such  horrors  might  be  easi 
ly  imagined.  Congress  had  been  compelled  by  its 
highest  duties  to  pass  a  law  authorising  retaliation 
on  captive  British  officers,  in  case  of  their  repeti 
tion  ;  the  executive  government  of  the  Union  hav 
ing  previously  and  repeatedly  proposed  to  Great 
Britian,  that  neither  country  should,  under  any 
circumstances,  employ  these  savages  as  auxilia 
ries  in  battle. 

His  lordship  asked,  if  it  any  where  appeared 
that  there  had  been  a  connexion  between  Arbuth- 
not  and  Woodbine,  the  evidence  before  the  court 
martial,  as  far  as  he  recollected,  not  disclosing  that 
fact.  Here  I  gave  him  a  copy  of  the  journal,  in 
Arbuthnot's  hand-writing,  kept  in  October  and 
November  1816,  when  he  and  Woodbine  arrived 
in  the  vessel  of  the  former  at  Suwahny,  from  Nas 
sau.  This  document  established  a  connexion  be 
tween  the  two,  and  moreover  showed  that  Wood 
bine,  in  Arbuthnot's  presence,  made  promises  to 
the  Indians  of  support  from  Great  Britain,  which 
Arbuthnot  knew  to  be  unwarrantable.  The  latter 
instead  of  contradicting  them,  became  party  to  the 


IS  19.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  447 

deception  by  repeating  the  same  promises  him 
self. 

His  lordship  next  inquired  if  there  was  any  evi 
dence  that  he  was  apprized  of  the  true  construc 
tion  of  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent. 

Passing  by  the  obvious  import  of  the  article, 
that  it  applied  only  to  Indians  with  whom  the 
United  States  had  been  actually  at  war,  I  replied, 
that  there  was  also  positive  proof,  to  fix  upon  him 
this  knowledge  ;  viz.  a  letter  received  by  him  from 
Mr.  Culloh,  written  in  the  name  of  the  command 
ing  officer  of  Fort  Gaines,  in  which  he  was  ex 
pressly  informed,  that  such  was  its  meaning.  A 
copy  of  this  letter,  I  also  handed  to  his  lordship. 

I  drew  to  a  conclusion  by  saying,  that  both  of 
these  unhappy  individuals  had  clearly  then  drawn 
upon  themselves  their  doom.  That  towards  those 
who  could  deliberately  become  the  means  of  havoc 
and  bloodshed,  upon  so  great  a  scale,  the  extension 
of  a  lenient  treatment  by  the  United  States,  would 
be  to  forget  what  they  owed  to  their  own  citizens. 
Long  had  they  borne  the  evils  inflicted  by  such 
guilty  agents.  If  a  necessary  justice  had  at  length, 
for  the  first  time,  held  up  to  public  example 
two  of  them,  there  was  room  for  the  hope, 
that,  painful  as  was  the  occurrence,  it  might 
be  productive  of  future  good  to  the  cause  of  hu- 


448  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

manity.  I  was  directed  by  the  President  to  say, 
that  whatever  deep  regret  might  belong  to  the 
occasion,  there  appeared  to  be  no  ground  of  cen 
sure.  The  commanding  general  stood  high  in  the 
confidence  of  his  country,  had  added  to  its  glory, 
and  was  believed  on  this,  as  other  occasions  of  his 
life,  to  have  been  animated  only  by  a  sense  of  the 
public  good.  It  was  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to 
add,  that  those  who  mixed  themselves  up  with 
hordes,  whose  modes  of  warfare  subjected  to  de 
struction,  with  torments,  all  who  fell  into  their 
hands,  excluded  themselves  from  the  pale  of  those 
merciful  protections  which  civilized  warfare  de 
lighted  to  throw  over  captives.  To  have  allowed 
these  individuals  a  trial  at  all,  was  an  indulgence. 
His  lordship  said  that  he  would  take  into  con 
sideration  what  had  fallen  from  7  me,  as  well  as 
the  fresh  papers  I  had  submitted,  before  offering 
any  thing  on  his  part.  He  asked  if  I  had  any  fur 
ther  documents  to  lay  before  him.  I  said  none. 
Will  no  others  be  laid  before  Congress,  he  inquir 
ed  ?  He  had  here  in  his  mind  the  letter  of  Mr. 
Adams  of  the  28th  of  November  1818,  to  the  min 
ister  of  the  United  States  at  the  court  of  Spain, 
containing  so  ample  a  vindication  of  the  principal 
events  of  the  Seminole  war,  including  the  execu 
tion  of  the  two  British  subjects.  I  answered,  that 


J  819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  449 

the  President  would  in  all  probability  communicate 
to  Congress  other  documents  than  the  bare  pro 
ceedings  of  the  court  martial ;  if  so,  they  might  be 
expected  in  England  by  early  arrivals. 

In  the  end  he  remarked,  that  he  greatly  lament 
ed  the  whole  occurrence.  It  was  exciting  strong 
sensibility  in  England.  On  this  topic,  he  dwelt 
with  some  anxiety ;  giving  expression  however,  for 
himself,  to  none  other  than  assuaging  sentiments. 
In  this  spirit  the  interview  had  been  conducted ;  and 
in  this  spirit  it  terminated.  I  need  hardly  add,  that 
the  explanations  on  my  side,  were  afforded  with  all 
the  conciliation  of  manner  that  might  comport 
with  the  necessary  enforcement  of  their  truth. 

January  14.  Received  a  note  from  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh  requesting  me  to  call  on  him.  On  my 
arrival  he  said,  that  the  cases  of  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister,  were  making  a  deep  impression  on  the 
public  mind ;  he  witnessed  it  with  concern,  as  he 
knew  not  what  turn  the  subject  might  yet  take  when 
parliament  met ;  he  saw  nothing  objectionable  in 
the  general  character  of  my  explanations ;  on  the 
contrary,  on  revolving  in  his  mind  all  that  I  had 
said,  there  were  parts  which  it  was  rather  his  de 
sire  I  would  repeat  for  his  more  full  information. 

This  I  did,  with  the  necessary  amplifications.     I 

57 


450  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

spoke  of  the  war  with  the  Creek  Indians  in  1813, 
and  the  barbarities  at  Fort  Minims  that  provoked 
it.  These,  there  was  much  reason  for  believing, 
had  also  been  instigated  by  guilty  subjects  of 
Britain.  His  lordship  requested  I  would  furnish 
him  with  a  copy  of  the  treaty  of  peace  concluded 
on  that  occasion,  and  a  copy  of  the  act  of  Congress 
I  had  mentioned,  authorising  retaliation. 

January  15.  Furnished  Lord  Castlereagh  with 
a  copy  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  third  of  March 
1813,  authorising  retaliation,  as  mentioned  to  him  ; 
and  a  copy  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson  of  the 
ninth  of  August  1814. 

I  had  expected  that  he  would  say  something  of 
the  views  of  his  majesty's  government  respecting 
the  Indians  along  our  frontier,  in  pursuance  of  his 
intimation  on  the  ninth  instant ;  but  he  did  not. 
Nor  did  any  further  explanations  or  remarks,  of 
an  official  nature,  pass  between  us  relative  to  these 
executions. 

They  subsequently  became  the  subject  of  parli 
amentary  inquiry.  Commentaries  that  might  have 
been  anticipated,  were  made  in  debate;  but  the 
ministers  maintained  their  ground.  Out  of  doors, 
excitement  seemed  to  rise  higher  and  higher. 
Stocks  experienced  a  slight  fall,  under  an  appre- 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  45  \ 

hension  of  war  with  the  United  States.  The 
newspapers  kept  up  their  fire.  Little  acquainted 
with  the  true  character  of  the  transaction,  they 
gave  vent  to  angry  declamation;  they  fiercely 
denounced  the  government  of  the  United  States  ; 
tyrant,  ruffian,  murderer,  were  among  the  epithets 
applied  to  their  commanding  general.  He  was 
exhibited  in  placards  through  the  streets  of 
London.  The  journals,  without  any  distinction  of 
party,  swelled  the  general  chorus ;  the  whig  and 
others  in  opposition,  taking  the  decided  lead,  whilst 
those  in  the  tory  interest,  although  more  restrained, 
gave  them  countenance.  In  the  midst  of  this  din 
of  passion,  the  ministry  stood  firm.  Better  in 
formed,  more  just,  they  had  made  up  their  minds 
not  to  risk  the  peace  of  the  two  countries  on 
ground  so  untenable.  It  forms  an  instance,  a 
remarkable  one,  of  the  intelligence  and  strength 
of  a  government,  disregarding  the  first  clamours 
of  a  powerful  press,  and  first  erroneous  impulses 
of  an  almost  universal  public  feeling.  At  a  later 
day  of  my  mission,  Lord  Castlereagh  said  to  me, 
that  a  war  might  have  been  produced  on  this  oc 
casion  "  if  the  ministry  had  but  held  up  a  finger" 
On  so  slender  a  thread  do  public  affairs  sometimes 
hang !  Plato  says,  that  the  complaisance  which 
produces  popularity,  is  the  source  of  the  greatest 


452  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

operations  in  government.  The  firmness  of  one 
man,  is,  perhaps,  the  pivot  on  which  great  events 
more  frequently  turn.  I  adopted,  and  retain,  the 
belief,  that  this  quality  in  Lord  Castlereagh  under 
the  emergency  I  have  been  describing,  sustained  by 
the  same  feeling  in  some  of  his  colleagues  in  the 
cabinet,  was  the  main  cause  of  preventing  a  rup 
ture  between  the  two  nations. 

January  20.  Lord  Castlereagh  gives  an  official 
dinner  to-day,  at  his  house  in  St.  James's  square, 
to  the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  privy  council, 
amounting  in  all  to  between  thirty  and  forty.  The 
object  is,  to  agree  finally  upon  the  Prince  Regent's 
speech  to  parliament.  It  is  already  drawn  up, 
and  will  be  read  by  his  lordship  to  the  assembled 
company,  at  table,  after  dinner.  This  is  the  cus 
tom,  my  informant  said,  every  year,  the  day  be 
fore  parliament  meets.  The  office  of  entertaining 
the  ministers  and  reading  the  speech,  generally  de 
volves,  he  added,  on  the  leading  ministerial  mem 
ber  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  had  been 
for  many  years  in  the  hands  of  Lord  Castlereagh. 

January  21.  Parliament  was  opened.  The 
Prince  Regent  did  not  come  in  person  to  the 
House  of  Lords.  Five  commissioners  represented 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  453 

him,  viz.  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  the  Marquis  Camden,  the  Earl 
of  Westmoreland,  and  the  Earl  of  Harrowby.  The 
speech  was  read  by  the  Lord  Chancellor.  It  an 
nounced  two  events,  and  only  two,  in  connexion 
with  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country.  First, 
that  the  negotiations  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  had  led  to 
the  evacuation  of  the  French  territory  by  the  allied 
armies.  Second,  That  a  treaty  had  been  concluded 
with  the  United  States,  for  the  renewal  of  the  Com 
mercial  convention,  and  the  amicable  adjustment  of 
several  points  of  mutual  importance  to  the  interests 
of  both  nations.  It  stated  the  trade  and  manufac 
tures  of  Great  Britain,  to  be  in  a  most  flourishing 
condition,  and  that  there  was  a  progressive  im 
provement  of  the  revenue  in  its  most  important 
branches. 

January  23.  Dined  at  Mr.  Wellesley  Pole's. 
There  were  at  table,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pole,  Mrs. 
Rush,  Lady  Harvey  of  Maryland,  Lady  Georgiana 
Fane,  Miss  Caton  of  Maryland,  the  Duke  of  Wel 
lington,  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  Lord  Fitzroy 
Somerset,  one  of  the  aids  of  the  Duke  of  Welling 
ton,  Sir  Felton  Harvey,  another ;  young  Mr.  Fane, 
Mr.  M'Tavish  of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Bouverie. 

Conversation  was  various.     Mr.  Bagot's  pro- 


454  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  T1819 

bable  return  home  in  May,  was  mentioned.  A 
frigate  was  to  be  sent  for  him.  I  spoke  of  the 
satisfaction  his  diplomatic  career  had  given  at 
Washington ;  and  from  authority  >  having  been 
directed  by  the  President  to  say  so  to  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh. 

Paris  and  French  society  wrere  favourably  spo 
ken  of.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  and  Lord  Fitz- 
roy  Somerset,  took  a  leading  share  in  what  was 
said.  Mention  was  made  of  a  solemn  celebration 
a  few  days  ago,  at  the  chapel  of  the  French  embassy 
in  London,  to  commemorate  the  anniversary  of 
the  execution  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth.  The  priest 
read  the  will  of  Louis.  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset  in 
describing  the  good  accommodations  of  the  house 
in  Paris,  in  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington  resided 
when  last  there,  said  it  was  the  same  that  President 
Monroe  had  occupied  during  his  mission  to  France. 

We  heard  of  the  exploits  of  one  of  the  company 
during  the  late  shooting  season.  Eight  hundred 
and  twelve  partridges,  and  three  hundred  and 
thirty  pheasants,  were  the  fruit  of  his  markman- 
ship.  Other  exploits  of  the  same  nature  were 
spoken  of;  some  that  exceeded  them.  A  gentle 
man  was  named  on  whose  estate  at  the  preceding 
season,  three  thousand  hares  were  shot,  by  him 
self  and  friends ;  all  explained,  I  might  add,  by  the 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  455 

game  monopoly.  Something  remarkable  for  num 
bers,  in  another  way,  happened  to  be  mentioned  ; 
viz.  that  Colonel  Vivian,  aid  to  the  Prince  Regent, 
was  one  of  twenty-six  children,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Norwich  the  youngest  of  thirty. 

Painting  became  a  topic.     The  collections  in 
France,  Spain,  and  the  Low  Countries,  were  fami 
liar  to  some  of  the  company.     My  attention  was 
most  excited  by  what  was  said  of  a  picture  of  the 
Black  Prince,  lately  picked  up  for  a  few  francs  at 
a  sale  on  the  continent.     Mr.  Pole  said  there  were 
good  grounds  for  believing  it  to  be  an  original, 
formerly  of  the  royal  collection  in  England.     The 
account  given  wras,  that  James  II.  took  it  with 
him  to  France,  when  he  abdicated,  since  which  it 
had  been  lost  sight  of,  until  traced  by  chance  at 
this  sale.     Lord  Westmoreland  had  his  doubts, 
from  the  circumstances  under  which  James  left 
England  ;  Mr.  Pole  saw  no  incompatibility ;  which 
led  to  conversation  on  the  personal  fortunes  of 
that  monarch.     The  picture  afterwards  turned  it 
upon  the  Plantagenets.    It  was  remarked,  that  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  had  won  a  battle  in  Spain,  on 
the  precise  ground  where  the  Black  Prince  gained 
one ;  that  both  had  fought  in  the  cause  of  the  crown 
of  Spain,  one  for  the  restoration  of  Peter  of  Castile, 
the  other  for  that  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh ;  each 


456  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

Spanish  monarch  having  been  ejected  by  the  French. 
These  were  close  parallelsit  must  be  admitted. 
Another  was  probably  in  the  thoughts  of  the 
company — the  fields  of  Poictiers  and  Waterloo. 
All,  I  believe,  would  have  destined  the  picture, 
if  genuine,  to  the  ownership  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  as  a  companion  to  the  colossal  statue 
of  Napoleon,  at  Apsley-house,  his  town  residence. 

Sir  Felton  Harvey  and  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset, 
had  each  lost  an  arm  in  the  battles  of  the  duke. 
The  duke  himself  had  never  been  wounded.  Others 
of  his  military  suite,  had  been  maimed  or  killed  by 
his  side.  Sir  Felton  had  been  with  him  in  most 
of  his  campaigns  in  the  Peninsula.  Speaking  of 
him,  he  said  to  me,  that  his  self-possession  was 
remarkable,  enabling  him  to  sleep  soundly  on  the 
brink  of  danger.  Often,  in  the  hottest  parts  of  a 
campaign,  after  lying  down,  under  his  usual  order 
to  be  awoke  if  necessary,  he  had  known  him  called 
up  repeatedly  within  a  few  hours,  by  the  arrival 
of  expresses  ;  and,  if  no  movement  were  required, 
drop  asleep  again  in  a  moment.  It  was  such  con 
versation  and  more,  that  the  evening  brought  with 
it,  our  fair  countrywomen  often  and  gracefully 
contributing  their  parts. 

Of  Sir  Felton  Harvey,  as  amiable  as  brave,  say 
those  who  know  him  best,  I  subsequently  heard  an 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  457 

anecdote.  It  may  be  in  print,  but  I  have  not  seen 
it.  Whilst  one  of  the  battles  in  Spain  was  raging, 
the  duke  gave  him  an  order,  to  convey  to  another 
part  of  the  field.  Half  across  it,  a  French  officer 
was  seen  gallopping  towards  him.  Sir  Felton's 
sword  hung  by  his  side,  though  he  could  not  wield 
it ;  it  was  his  right  arm  he  had  lost,  and  the  other 
held  the  bridle ;  but  he  faced  the  foe,  looking  him 
defiance.  As  they  swiftly  drew  near,  the  French 
man  raised  himself  on  his  stirrups,  his  sword  up 
lifted.  Discovering,  at  the  very  moment  for  the 
stroke,  his  adversary  to  be  defenceless,  he  brings 
down  his  weapon  in  the  form  of  a  complimentary 
salute,  and  rapidly  passes  on  !  Such  acts  give  to 
war  touches  of  moral  beauty,  in  spite  of  its  evils. 
After  the  battle,  the  restless  courtesy  of  Harvey 
sought  in  vain  for  the  chivalrous  Gaul.  There  was 
too  much  reason  to  think  he  had  fallen.  He  made 
no  boast  of  sparing  life,  but  gave  his  salute  in 
silence. 

January    26.      Mr.  *  *  *  *  *  *   called  on  me. 
He  had  applied  by  note  for  an  interview,  stating 

himself  to  be  connected  with .     It  was  his 

purpose  to  ask  some  information  relative  to  the 
formation  of  the  navy  board  of  the  United  States, 

and  other  matters  belonging  to  the  civil  organiza- 

58 


458  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819 

tion  of  our  marine.  He  talked  a  good  deal,  his 
remarks  being  sometimes  more  full  than  the  mere 
desire  for  information  seemed  to  require.  A  foolish 
story  was  flying  about  the  streets,  of  Bonaparte's 
escape  from  St.  Helena, — the  story  adding,  that  a 
fast  sailing  American  schooner  had  been  in  the 
plot.  This  led  him  to  speak  of  the  achievements 
of  the  American  navy,  upon  which  he  touched  with 
sufficient  complaisance;  but  wound  up  with  an 
allusion  to  the  action  between  the  Chesapeake  and 
Shannon.  That,  on  the  whole,  ought  to  be  con 
sidered,  he  thought,  the  fairest  criterion  of  the 
naval  prowess  of  the  two  countries,  frigate  to  fri 
gate.  I  did  not  argue  with  him,  and  he  soon  left 
me,  after  the  somewhat  singular  topics  it  had  been 
his  pleasure  to  indulge  in.  I  am  bound  to  add, 
that  it  was  the  first  and  only  time  it  had  been  my 
lot  to  hear  any  broached  in  England,  not  suited  to 
the  good  feelings  of  conversation. 

The  Chesapeake,  it  is  true,  was  captured.  The 
British  captain  sought  the  battle  with  a  lofty, 
daring,  spirit,  and  won  his  prize  gallantly.  Let  no 
American  gainsay  this ;  for  is  it  for  Americans,  to 
rob  valour  of  its  renown  ?  We  heard  how  the 
exploit  was  hailed  in  England ;  the  more,  as  it 
seemed  to  break  the  spell  of  a  series  of  naval 
encounters  between  the  two  nations,  that  had 


1819.1  COURT  OF  LONDON.  459 

terminated  against  her.  But,  however  welcomed 
there,  whatever  joy  it  created,  I  do  not  think  that 
it  equalled,  nay  I  am  sure  that  it  did  not,  the  op 
posite  feeling  here.  I  remember,  who  among  us 
can  forget,  the  first  rumour  of  it ;  I  remember 
also  the  confident — the  universal — incredulity, 
with  which,  at  first,  it  was  received ;  then  I  re 
member,  how  the  post  offices,  for  several  days, 
were  surrounded  by  inquiring  thousands ;  how 
even  groups  of  citizens  rode  out  on  the  highways, 
striving  to  catch  something  by  anticipation  as  the 
mail  approached,  under  the  startling  reports  that 
were  successively  coming  in.  At  last,  when  hope 
was  gone — when  the  certainty  of  her  capture 
could  no  longer  be  hidden,  I  remember  the  public 
gloom.  Solemn  processions,*  funeral  discourses, 
testified  it ;  from  north  to  south — in  the  sea  ports 
— in  the  interior — every  where,  it  was  the  same. 
"  Doii't  give  up  the  ship,"  the  dying  words  of 
LawTence,  slain  by  the  first  broadside,  were 
on  every  tongue.  Wrapped  in  his  flag  as  a 
winding  sheet,  his  remains  were  conveyed  by 
the  victors  to  Halifax,  and  committed  to  British 
earth,  with  honours  due  to  the  brave  ;  but,  not 
long  did  they  lie  there.  When  peace  came,  a 
vessel  fitted  out  by  the  spontaneous,  affectionate, 
patriotism,  of  twelve  New  England  sea  captains, 


460  RESIDENCE  AT  THE  [1819. 

and  by  them  exclusively  manned,  bore  them  back 
to  his  country — the  country  he  had  honoured, 
the  country  that  loved  him.  There  they  repose, 
under  the  laurel  as  the  cypress ;  for  he  too,  in 
his  turn,  had  formerly,  and  as  gallantly,  triumphed, 
ship  to  ship,  over  the  proud  flag  of  England. 
Others,  may  augur  the  naval  destinies  of  the 
United  States  from  their  victories;  I,  from  the 
grief  that  followed  this  defeat.  It  illustrated 
the  intensity  of  feeling  existing  among  a  people 
where  each  one,  under  their  noble  institutions, 
identified  himself  with  the  nation,  and  seemed  as 
sorely  struck  down  by  a  public  calamity,  as  if  it 
had  been  a  personal  blow.  What  may  not  be 
hoped  of  such  a  people  in  the  achievements  of 
war — what,  in  all  that  may  advance  their  pros 
perity  and  glory  in  peace — if  true  to  themselves, 
and  to  their  happy  and  powerful  UNION  ! 


THE   END. 


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